One of a Muslim’s duties, as described in the Five Pillars of Islam, is to go on Hajj at least once during his or her lifetime.  This is a pilgrimage to Mecca. Every year about three million gather for the major pilgrimage, or Hajj, during the Muslim month of Dhu’l-Hijja, and many more perform the minor pilgrimage, or Umrah, at various times throughout the year.

Few non-Muslims have ever seen the rites and rituals of the Hajj, as non-Muslims are strictly prohibited from entering Mecca and Medina. 

The focal point of Mecca is the Kaaba, the “House of God” believed by Muslims to have been built by Abraham and his son Ishmael.  The Kaaba is covered in a gold-embroidered black fabric. Pilgrims circle the Kaaba seven times and also try to touch or kiss its cornerstone, the Black Stone. During Hajj pilgrims may drink from the well of Zamzam, the water believed to have special properties.

During the Hajj pilgrims travel to Mina, a small village, where the Devil, symbolised by stone columns, is ritually stoned. They then proceed to the hill Arafat (sometimes called a mountain, but with a height of only 70 m), a site for prayer, where Muhammad is believed to have delivered his final sermon.

The Masjid al Haram (Sacred Mosque) is for Muslims the most sacred place on earth.  At this time non-Muslims are not permitted to visit the mosque or the city itself.

Many of the churches, monasteries, mosques and shrines that we will visit mark sites associated with the earliest years of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, along with the life and religion of the Jewish people, the ministry of Jesus and his apostles, and the subsequent arrival of the Muslim people.  Even in later centuries, the design of the buildings that we will see will celebrate the influence of much by the religious traditions of the individual communities, as by the building methods and styles current at the time of construction.  We will see how differences in tradition affected the design of the sanctuaries, and well will learn how, simply stated, the Western churches tend to have an open, high altar; whereas the Eastern churches placed the altar behind an iconostasis, a wall separating the sanctuary from the main body of the church.  Jewish and Muslim centers of worship will be visited and their architectural styles admired.

We will see Herodian and even Hasmonean cut stones in buildings of the Byzantine, early-Islamic and Crusader periods; and a stone-carved rosette window from a Crusader church incorporated into a 16th century Ottoman fountain opposite the Bab al-Silsila (Gate of the Chain) entrance to the Haram esh-Sharif (the temple Mount).

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A living example of Arab Islamic architecture, the walls built by the Ottoman under the direct supervision of Sultan Suleiman Al-Qanouni in 1542, stretch for 12 miles and rise to an average height of 40 feet, and a width of more than 7 feet. These walls contains many towers and 11 gates, seven of which are presently open.

• Damascus Gate: The most massive and ornate of all of Jerusalem’s gates. The road running off it leads to Shechem (Nablus) and then to Damascus. It is also the only one to have been excavated.
• Golden Gate: The Mercy (Golden) Gate (Bab el Rahmeh) appears in the legends of all three religions. According to Christian tradition, Jesus made his last entry to Jerusalem through the Mercy Gate. The Muslims refer to it as the Gate of Mercy and believe it to be the gate referred to in the Koran, through which the just will pass on the Day of Judgment. This gate has been sealed since the 1600′s and an early Jewish tradition holds that the Messiah will pass through it to enter Jerusalem.
• Herod’s Gate: The first name was given to the gate by pilgrims, who erroneously believed that it led to Herod’s palace. It is also known in Arabic as the Flower Gate
• Lion’s Gate: Legend has it that the lions engraved on both sides of the gate were placed there by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, because he had dreamed that he would be devoured by lions unless he built a wall around the Holy City for the defence of the citizens. This marks the beginning of the Via Dolorosa and is on the eastern side of the Old City.
• Zion Gate: (St. Stephen’s Gate), the western gate of the Old City, named after Mount Zion. In Arabic it is known as “the Prophet David’s Gate”, because one passes through King David’s tomb on Mount Zion. This gate connects the Armenian Quarter with Mount Zion, which lies outside the walls and serves as a border between it and the Jewish Quarter.
• Jaffa Gate: This gate is the principal entrance to the Old City. Its name in Arabic is Bab-el-Khalil, the gate of Hebron, as the main road to Hebron started here. It was also called Jaffa Gate because the road to Jaffa and the coast also started from it.
  
• Dung Gate: The Dung Gate is mentioned in the book of Nehemiah as a dispatch point for the city’s refuse. It would appear that it was through this gate that the refuse was removed from the city.

This itinerary takes us to three sites: (1) the majestic Lateran Basilica of San Giovanni, (2) the Scala Sancta and (3) the Lateran Baptistery.

Saint John’s at the Lateran is the Mother Church of Rome and of the world, the place where the papal throne (cathedra) is located. Such constitutes this basilica to be the most important church in Christendom. On its façade is an inscription that proclaims the basilica as: “SACROSANCTA LATERANENSIS ECCLESIA OMNIUM URBIS ET ORBIS ECCLESIARUM MATER ET CAPUT” (The Most Holy Lateran Church, Mother and Mistress of all churches of the city and the World). This Basilica is the Cathedral of Rome, where the Emperor Constantine permitted Pope St. Sylvester I to establish his cathedra in 314 AD.

St. John’s houses some of the most important relics of the Christian faith. The principal sights inside the Basilica, which we visit, are the High Altar, the Confessio, the apse and sanctuary, the splendid cloisters and the lateral Chapels of the Orsini, Torlonia, Massimo, Colonna and Corsini. On this itinerary we also visit the sacred Scala Santa, or Holy Stairs, which pilgrims have ascended on their knees over centuries in honor of the tradition that these were the steps of the Palace of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem that Christ stood upon during his trial. At the top of the stairs we see the revered Sancta Sanctorum, or Holy of Holies, an 8th century chapel which refers to the inner chamber of the Jewish Temple where only the high priest could enter. Today it is a private chapel for the Pope. Above the entrance to the apse is the inscription NON EST IN TOTO SANCTIOR ORBE LOCUS; “there is no holier place in all the world”.

Clothed in imperial garb and commanding the imperial army, proceeding in imperial manner and bearing the imperial title – PONTIFEX MAXIMUS – thus went Pope Leo the Great.

This extraordinary itinerary takes us to the following sites:

• Basilica of San Clemente
• Basilica of the Santi Quattro Coronati
• Complex of Santi Giovanni and Paolo (Case Romane)  

The growth of the Christian Church from its humble origins as a clandestine and syncretistic community to its status as a major world religion and the official religion of the Roman Empire is one of the most fascinating tales that Rome has to tell.

The historical and artistic patrimony that Rome offers the visitor is a synthesis of over 2500 years of cultural contributions from a variety of sources as diverse as the extremes of pagan and Christian contrast. On this itinerary we will see how Rome becomes the city of a tangible testimony to how the universal character of the capital of an immense empire is transmitted to the spiritual and temporal center of Christianity.

In the spirit of Hobbes’ most fitting phrase: “The Papacy was not other than the ghost of the deceased Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon the throne thereof,” we will experience this imperial and papal overlap.

This itinerary looks at the emergence of early Christianity in the 1st century of Rome to its establishment as the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 AD under the Emperor Theodosius II. We trace the development of the Christian community in Rome with visits to some of the city’s most spectacular subterranean sites – the Basilica of San Clemente, also known as the Titulus Clementis, an 11th century church whose medieval mosaics are unsurpassed in Rome. This church is built on top of an earlier 4th century basilica which is itself built over the remains of the 1st century Roman house (domus) of Clement, believed to be the meeting place of the first Christians in Rome. The excavations at this site will also take us to a mithraeum, a meeting-hall for a pagan mystic cult which was a longtime rival to the Christian religion. After exploring San Clemente we will visit the Basilica of the Santi Quattro Coronati with its exquisite cloister and monastic structure. Here we learn of the architectural integrity and history of an intriguingly fortified papal space and also visit the historic chapels of Santa Barbara and San Silvestro.

Finally we will explore the Case Romane under the Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo on the Celian Hill, a recent excavation revealing 2nd and 3rd century Roman houses and boutiques.

As well as discovering so many of the sacred treasures of early Christianity, this itinerary offers a unique perspective on the relationship between religion, politics, art and architecture, and their socio-historical impact of the respective period.

In essence, this itinerary will present to you an understanding of how the overlapping of the authorities of the Roman State and the early Christian Church lead to the eventual rise of the Holy Roman Empire, and subsequent conflict between these two powers lead to the weakening of the Papacy and the ultimate establishment of the Nation State. While discussing this fascinating period of history — the Middle Ages, we will also learn about the distinctive kind of art and architecture that this protracted epoch produced.

Meeting point: Piazza San Clemente, in front of the café on Via di San Giovanni in Laterno

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Without denying the fact that Rome’s sacred buildings excel in quantity rather than quality, with of course several magnificent exceptions, there is no doubt that a collective look at a few of these exquisite buildings would comprise one of the finest artistic, architectural and historical experiences in the world.

On this itinerary – “Minor Basilicas of Rome” – we will visit the historically less renowned though artistically and architecturally fascinating minor Roman basilicas.  Among these are included:

Basilica of S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura (St. Lawrence Outside the Walls)
Basilica of S. Agnese fuori le Mura (St. Anges Outside-the-Walls)
Basilica of S. Sebastiano fuori le Mura (St. Sebastian Outside the Walls)
Basilica of S. Anastasia al Palatino
Basilica of St. Anastasia
Basilica of S. Bartolomeo Apostolo all’Isola
Basilica of St. Bartholomew on the Island
Basilica of Ss. Bonifacio ed Alessio all’Aventino
Basilica of S. Croce in Gerusalemme
Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem
Basilica of S. Maria ad martyres in Campo (“Pantheon”)
Basilica of S. Maria del Popolo
Basilica of S. Maria in Ara Coeli al Campidoglio
Basilica of S. Marco a piazza Venezia (a favorite)
Basilica of S. Sabina all’Aventino
Basilica of S. Pietro in Vincoli al Colle Oppio

We will look at prototypical Roman buildings from the point of view of their origin and structure. These basilicas of Rome, usually from the time period of the first six centuries, will be seen in the context of the following classes:

1. Pagan monuments, especially temples, converted into churches.
2. Memorials of historical events.
3. Oratories and churches built over the houses of martyrs and confessors.

From these classifications the major artworks, interior ornamentation and architectural structures of ach basilica will be explored in the context of the building’s historical antecedents, from the present ecclesiastical context back through the centuries into the roman-civil and the greek-regal.

Special attention will be given to the “reading” of a basilica, its architectural morphemes in a “sacred” context, the tombs and funerary monuments, relics, mosaics and frescoes, the altars, confessios and sculptures. Functional churches still today, there may even be the opportunity to observe and experience on sight the beauty of the ceremonial liturgies with their respective chant, music and ritualistic accoutrements – from a non-religious pint of view still an attraction for the average Roman visitor.

In brief: We visit a choice of at least three minor Roman basilicas.

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Many of the greatest sanctuaries of Christian Rome today owe their existence to the ancient underground cemeteries, originally modest graves and the burial places of the earliest popes, martyrs and confessors of the primitive Church over which these sanctuaries were built. For centuries these sites have been the destinations of Christian pilgrims throughout the world and remain today one of the most numinous and evocative places for the visitor to Rome to experience.

Several excellent specimens of cemeterial complexes connected with these sacred graves are open to the public today. One such complex is the catacombs of Saint Callixtus on the Via Appia Antica to where our excursion takes us.  These catacombs are named after the deacon Callixtus who became Pope Saint Callixtus I (217-222 AD). As authentic archives of the primitive Church, these catacombs are undoubtedly one of the most revered Christian sanctuaries in the entire world. On account of their historical importance Pope John XXIII defined them as “the most august and celebrated of Rome.”

The catacombs of Saint Callixtus comprise part of a cemeterial complex that occupies an area of over ninety acres with a network of underground corridors in the form of a labyrinth, about twelve miles long, on four levels, and more than twenty meters deep. Here we see the graves of sixteen popes, over fifty Christian martyrs and many others of the early Roman Church whose legacies continue to draw pilgrims from all around the world. We visit the most ancient parts (2nd century) of the catacombs which include the crypt of the popes, the crypts of Saint Cecilia and Lucina, and the crypt of the Sacraments. These spaces are the area where some of the most sacred memories of Christianity are preserved.

Discovered in the middle of the second century AD, these catacombs display an inestimable patrimony of western culture. Frescoes, sculptures and inscriptions barely damaged, corridor with numerous symbols and intact loculi, bring to life the past and offer a clear image of the role of these extraordinary structures in early Christianity. They reveal a tremendous message of Christian faith and testimony. Here we learn not only of how the early Christians were buried, but also of how they became real shrines of the martyrs, centers of devotion and of pilgrimage for Christians from every part of the empire. Here the early Christians gathered to celebrate their funeral rites and the anniversaries of the martyr. We also learn about the history of how this cemetery became the official burial ground for the entire Roman Church.

Here we also experience the quiet and mystical atmosphere of the ancient Appian Way, an area that remains today untarnished by tourism.

In the end, our visit to these catacombs cannot be reduced to a mere sightseeing tour or to a cultural archaeological excursion. Following the example of the innumerable pilgrims of bygone centuries, whether pilgrim or visitor to Rome today, the opportunity to visit these catacombs will afford an authentic journey of faith and love to one of the most important historical monuments that expresses the life and death of the saints of the first centuries of the Roman Church. Your own experience on this occasion will, most surely, afford a similar journey.

Sign up today for this educational itinerary by contacting SACRA SORGENTE: email: sacra.sorgente@gmail.com

Sacra Sorgente itineraries are conducted by docents. Our docents are, above all, educators — the term being derived from the Latin word docēre meang “to teach”.

The Sacra Sorgente docent is a passionate and erudite teacher who leads the visitor to Rome through the city’s museums, art galleries and architectural spaces — particularly the basilicas, temples and ancient Roman houses, and delivers an unscripted, academically based narrative on the exhibitions, their history, artistic contents, architectural integrity and the various meanings behinds these. The docent, generally a professor or university lecturer specialized in a particular field, has undergone an intensive training process geared towards advancing the visitor’s appreciation of the specific artistic, cultural or historical exhibits at hand.

In many cases, our docents, in addition to their prescribed function as “guide”, also conduct research in the academic field. Such fields generally include: Art, Art History, Architecture, Architectural History, Archeology, Theology, Theological Aesthetics, Political Science and History in general. The docent has good communicative and interpretive skills as well as a thorough understanding of the specific exhibit with which he or she is engaged. The docent is also provided with extensive reading lists to add to the basic information required to lead the itinerary.

Prospective Sacra Sorgente docents must “shadow” an experienced docent before leading the itinerary on their own. Our docents are also kept up-to-date with continuous scholarly information, reading, training and seminars.

This itinerary takes us to the Vatican Art Galleries, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica.

 “To speak of the Vatican is to speak of Rome. This is as true today as it has ever been in the past. It is much more than the center of Catholicism, because it has absorbed within itself the great heritage of the Classical world in which our own civilization still has its roots. The Vatican, like Rome of old, is in a sense communis patria – the universal fatherland. It has become the richer for that, and it has suffered too. It has aroused passionate enthusiasm and love, and no less passionate hatred. Even for those who do not share the Catholic faith, and have had no contact with Western civilization, the Vatican is still a symbol, and a historical reality that must be taken into account. Therefore whatever our point of view may be, when we speak about the Vatican we have to realize its unique quality in history. We have to enter into it, to think and feel ourselves into it. Even if we consider it only as a collection of buildings and works of art (St Peter’s, the Vatican Museums, and so on) we are confronted by a unifying vision of two thousand years of Western culture.

Whether we come as pilgrims or as visitors interested in art and culture, we come up against the Vatican as an artifact of history. We can see how it grew, where it was altered or destroyed, day after day and year after year. When we go into St Peter’s or the papal palace, we are immediately immersed in history. The centuries speak to us, and we can touch, as it were, the point of intersection between an ancient and a modern world. And this is something that happens to everyone, irrespective of the breadth or narrowness of his cultural horizon.”

Excerpt taken from: Oreste Ferrari, Masterpieces of the Vatican. English translation from the Italian by Geoffrey Webb (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1971).

It is, indeed, misleading to think of the Vatican primarily as a museum or a religious art gallery. The Vatican is quite different. It is an entity still alive today, consisting of a complex of buildings of unrivalled scope and importance which have grown organically into a multifarious artistic, cultural, political and religious organization.

This extraordinary itinerary – “Masterpieces of the Vatican” – takes us through the vast and assorted Vatican Art Collections and into Saint Peter’s Basilica. At both of these sites we explore in depth the art and architecture, and discuss the intricate history of the Papal State and the legacy of its popes and their artists who contributed to making this one of the most extraordinary places in the world.

This itinerary in brief:

Vatican Museums

Pinacoteca (fine arts gallery)
Belvedere Courtyard (Cortile della Pigna)
Chiaramonti Collection
- Apoxyomenos
Pio-Clementino Collection
- Apollo Belvedere
- Laocoön
- Belvedere Torso
- Stanza Rotonda
- Stanza della Croce Greca
Bramante’s Triple Gallery
Fra Angelico’s Chapel of Nicholas V
Raphael Rooms
Sistine Chapel

St. Peter’s Basilica
Portico and bronze doors
Chapel of the Pietá
Statue of St. Peter
Baldacchino, shrines and Cathedra Petri
Dome
Monumental Tomb to Alexander VII
Papal Cenotaphs
Monument to the Last Stuarts

Piazza San Pietro
General overview

•  Contact Sacra Sorgente to participate in this itinerary by sending and email to sacra.sorgente@gmail.com