Following the coronation procession route of Pope Innocent III at the very end of the 12th century, the Vatican would have been the beginning. Papal coronations were used to represent their authority and power over secular rule, and there is no…

The coronation procession followed a pattern: beginning in the Vatican for the consecration and the papal area to cross the river and go to city, to the archeological zone, and then to the churches. Among others, Pope Innocent III’s coronation…

Religious processions were common occurrences in medieval Rome. Romans took to the streets to celebrate religious holidays and feast days, baptisms, and funerals almost weekly. The largest and grandest of the processions occurred more rarely: the…

Before the medieval period, the Forum was a popular stop on processions of all kinds, especially funerals. Emperors and popes would parade through the arches before reaching their final resting places. While heavily associated with a romanticized…

The Campidoglio served multiple functions during its time as a processional landmark in medieval Rome. While it was the center of the medieval Roman government, the square and area around the Capitoline hill also held one of the cities major markets,…

The Castel Sant’Angelo was an important political landmark in medieval Rome. Whoever controlled it controlled the city. For instance, in the 10th century, the Crescentii used it as a garrison, which allowed them to seize and imprison two Popes-- John…

The position of Jews in 12th century Rome was complex, and nowhere is this more apparent than in their position in processions. Their role was to present the Pope with a set of laws for his ratification at what used to be known as the Arpacata, an…

The road most of the procession would follow along was known as the via Papalis, or the road of the Pope. The via Papalis was the main road that connected the Vatican, the papal residence and home of St. Peter’s Basilica, to the Basilica of St. John…

The Lateran complex is the final stop of the papal procession. The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of Rome and mother church of the world, located on land once owned by Constantine who in 311 transferred it to the pope of his day for a…