Domus ecclesiae archive#

Some interesting observations derive from the overlapping of the plan of the Patriarchium - as reconstructed by the most recent research - with the archaeological plan of the area.

More difficult is the identification of the domus Iulia, probably an independent structure to the south of the bishop’s palace mentioned in the VIIth century or of some more basilicae (reception halls) like the basilica Vigilii - maybe a predecessor of the Triclinium of Leo III - or the basilica Theodori. Sylvester, the Triclinium of pope Leo III, the Hall of the Councils and the Macrona - a long passage connecting the main halls with the cathedral). Some elements are clearly identifiable (the Chapels of the Sancta Sanctorum and of St.

Domus ecclesiae archive#

This structure could be part of the Church archive (scrinium).Ī series of problems arise in comparing the written sources (mainly the Liber Pontificalis) with the reconstruction derived from the available plans. Excavations in the area revealed various remains of the High Empire and, above all, a wall decorated with a sixth century fresco representing a church father (the so-called “Saint Augustine”) discovered in 1900 below the foundations of the Chapel.

Its only surviving part is the Sancta Sanctorum Chapel (now included in the Scala Santa Sanctuary). The position of these aedes probably coincides with the remains of the Medieval Patriarchium, which figures on several plans drawn prior to its demolition. In that period the seat of the Roman bishop was named aedes Laterani (or domus Lateranensis) from an older owner, the consul of 197 A.D., T. Its first mention in the sources dates to the age of pope Damasus I (366-384), but it probably goes back to a point in the first half of the IV century. The destruction during the papacy of Sixtus V (1585-1590) of the larger part of the Late-Antique and Medieval bishop’s palace in the Lateran is mainly responsible for our difficulties in the comprehension and reconstruction of this important structure.