The tourists visiting Rome this Easter has an auspicious privilege to climb the stairs along which Jesus is said to have walked after the judgement of the crucifixion by Pontius Pilate. The holy stairs called Scala Sancta in Latin was being covered with wooden planks for 300 years. But the original marble will remain exposed for the upcoming two months since an extensive restoration project is taking place.
The three places on the stairs where the Drops of Jesus blood that are said to have fallen on the steps are marked by the signs of medieval crosses. Visitors often touch and kiss them along their course of journey of 28 marble steps. Father Francisco Guerro, the rector of stairs points out the several instances of Jesus going along these stairs in the gospel of John. Emperor Constantine’s Mother Helen who was an avid collector of relics of Jesus has brought the stairs from the Jerusalem in the 4th Century, although there is no written evidence for the same.
