The small church of Domine Quo Vadis, which is situated on the Via Appia, marks the spot where, according to the apocryphal Acts of Peter, Christ met Peter as the latter was fleeing Rome. Peter asked Christ, 'Lord, where are you going?' ('Domine, quo vadis?'), to which Christ replied, 'I go to Rome to be crucified a second time' ('Eo Romam iterum crucifigi'). The church dates back to at least the 9th century when it was known as Santa Maria in Palmis. In the 17th century it was completely rebuilt and renamed Domine Quo Vadis. The church is home to a marble slab (nowadays a copy of the original, which is kept in the nearby Basilica of San Sebastiano fuori le mura) which bears the imprint of a pair of feet, popularly held to be a miraculous sign left by Jesus. It is to these footprints (palmis) that the original name of the church refers. Comments are closed.
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My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England. Since 2001 I have lived in Italy, where I run private walking tours of Rome.
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October 2023
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