Sancta Sanctorum


The Sancta Sanctorum is a Roman Catholic chapel entered via the Scala Sancta of the Lateran Palace in Rome. It was the original private chapel of the papacy before it moved to Avignon, and later to the Vatican Palace. The chapel is the only building from the old Lateran Palace that was not destroyed during its reconstruction.

Name

The chapel acquired the Sancta Sanctorum sometime in the ninth century. The spelling is Sancta, the neuter plural form of the Latin adjective "holy": this is a reference to the multiple relics preserved there and to the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem, traditionally called in Latin both sanctum sanctorum or sancta sanctorum.

History

The founder of the chapel is unknown. It was originally dedicated to Saint Lawrence, and served as the pope's private oratory until the Renaissance. It is located at the top of the Scala Sancta,. The first mention of the chapel is found in the Liber Pontificalis, during the tenure of Pope Stephen III.
It formed part of the Lateran Palace, headquarters of the public offices of the papal court throughout the Middle Ages. Gregory IV had a private apartment built near the chapel to allow him to pray there. It later became part of the Palace and Holy Steps complex commissioned by Sixtus V in 1586.

Artwork

The chapel contains a cypress wood reliquary box, placed under the altar by Pope Leo III. It supposedly houses the bones of at least 13 saints. The reliquary box itself is taken to represent the Ark of the Covenant in Solomon's Temple.
Over the course of time, other relics were added, including the cloisonné enameled cross commissioned by Paschal I.
The opus sectile floor dates from 1278. This style of intarsiated pavement was created in the 12th century by the Cosmati family of stonecutters and widely copied throughout Rome in the 13th century.
The chapel also houses an icon of Christ Pantocrator, known as the Veronica, that was supposedly begun by Saint Luke and finished by an angel. It belongs to a class of icons known as acheiropoieta, or images not made by human hands, the most famous of which is the image of Christ’s face that miraculously imprinted itself on the sudarium of Veronica.