Santa Maria Scala Coeli
in Roma, ItalyCategory: Attraction
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Via di Acque Salvie, 1, 00142 Roma RM, Italy Print route »
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Santa Maria Scala Coeli (Saint Mary of the Stairway to Heaven), church on the site of St Paul the Apostle's prison, on Via delle Tre Fontane in Rome.The present church was built by Giacomo della Porta on top of an earlier one. On the stairs leading to it can be seen writing and drawings scratched into the stone, probably information from the architect to the builders. The church contains a mosaic by Francesco Zucca.
An old tradition claims that 10,000 Christian slaves who died while building the Baths of Diocletian are buried in the church's crypt, and are venerated as St Zeno and Companions. Some dead slaves from this project are likely buried in catacombs in the nearby hillside, though the 10,000 figure must be exaggerated.
According to legend, St Bernard had a vision while celebrating a requiem mass at the church. The vision was of the souls in purgatory he was praying for ascending to heaven by a ladder—the Scala Coeli. This vision was the basis for an indulgence attached to requiem masses celebrated in the church. Later, the indulgence was granted to specific churches outside Rome. In 1500, Henry VII of England was granted the scala coeli indulgence for his new chapel in Westminster Abbey, and the popularity of it in England grew rapidly. By the 1520s, bequests for masses "at Scala Coeli" were common.The church belongs to the Trappist Tre Fontane Abbey. It was already used by the Romanian Orthodox community in Rome before November 2002 when, to mark the visit to Rome of Teoctist, Patriarch of Romania, Pope John Paul II officially granted it to them. Previously, they had also gathered in the Chapel of Our Lady of Genezano off Via Cavour, but that chapel had become too small.
