Following the coronation procession route of Pope Innocent III at the end of the 12th century, the Vatican would have been the start. Papal coronations represented the pope’s authority and power over secular rule, and there is no better place to…

The coronation procession followed a pattern. It began in the Vatican for the consecration and then crossed the river to go into the city, the archeological zone, and then the churches. Among others, Pope Innocent III’s coronation procession route…

Religious processions were common occurrences in medieval Rome. Romans took to the streets to celebrate religious holidays, 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 be paraded 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 city’s major markets,…

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

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

The road most of the processions followed was known as the via Papalis, or the road of the Pope. This was the main road that connected the Vatican, the papal residence and home of St. Peter’s Basilica, to the Lateran Basilica, the official cathedral…

The Lateran Basilica is the Cathedral of Rome and mother church of the world, as well as the final procession stop. It is located on land once owned by the emperor Constantine. In 311, he transferred the land to the current pope for a church. The…