Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran

DOUG A great part of the Secret Tour was San Giovanni, St. John’s.  I had never heard of it, but it turns out there are four main churches ringing the city: San Giovanni, San Paolo, Santa Maria, and San Pietro or St. Peter’s.  San Giovanni is also huge, and it’s in a part of the city that is more open, less crowded, with wider streets.  The church itself is in a very open area so you can see for some distance around.  There are the remains of a Roman aqueduct nearby. 

 

One of the best parts of the church, and which you would never know without a guide telling you, is the door, since it is the entrance door from the original Roman Senate.  Our guide says he still gets a special energy from touching it. 

The inside of the church is fantastic.   The art is older and has more of the pre or emerging Renaissance style, with flatter images on golden backgrounds. 

 The floor is very intricate; Erica observed that it used the same pattern as in the Sistine Chapel, which turned out to be correct!

In the center of the church there is a spot you can look down below to a very old statue of Jesus, and there are buried relics of Saint John and Saint Paul.