Scala Santa

This staircase of twenty-eight marble steps, kept near the Lateran, is venerated as the stairs Christ is said to have climbed at the palace of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem, brought to Rome according to tradition by Saint Helena. Pilgrims ascend the steps on their knees in prayer, and the marble was long ago covered in protective wood. At the top lies the richly decorated papal private chapel known as the Sancta Sanctorum, filled with medieval frescoes and relics.