Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis
Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis
4.5
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4.5
98 reviews
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Carpense
Carpi, Italy3,579 contributions
Feb 2024 • Friends
The small church of “Santa Maria delle Piante”, otherwise known as “Domine, quo vadis?” “, stands on the suggestive Via Appia Antica and has, even more than particular artistic merits, an intense and poignant mystical meaning, rising on the place where, according to an undisputed tradition, Jesus appeared to the apostle Peter, while he was leaving Rome to escape the probable capture. Inside, paintings and the cast of the footprints of the Redeemer (the original, however, is in the nearby Basilica of San Sebastiano) evoke the extraordinary episode, arousing intense emotion in many. Church of medieval foundation, with a single nave, which today offers itself in the much more recent neoclassical lines, in a simple yet harmonious stylistic synthesis. Some paintings and frescoes recall the miraculous meeting between the Redeemer and the apostle. Of extraordinary interest is the small fresco from the late Giotto school, depicting the Virgin Mary, honored here under the title of "Santa Maria In Palmis". Religious history and mystical inspiration require a brief stop here for those exploring the glorious Via Appia Antica.
Written 28 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jae W. Lee
Long Island, NY5,876 contributions
Dec 2016 • Couples
Domine Quo Vadis site is a holy site for Christians, and a memorable site even for non-Christians. According to the Apocryphal Acts of Peter, Peter was fleeing from Rome along Via Appia Antica (Ancient Appia Way) to avoid possible crucifixion as a leader of Christians when he met Jesus Christ walking toward him from the opposite direction. When surprised Peter asked Jesus the famous question "Domine, Quo Vadis?" (Lord, Where Are You Going?), Jesus answered, " eo Romam iterum crucifigi" ("I am going to Rome to be crucified again"). Realizing his cowardly mistake, Peter returned to Rome for his continued ministry, leading to his eventual crucifixion upside-down. At their meeting site, Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis (Church of Domine Quo Vadis) was built. Rome's Christian Tour buses tend to pass by this holy site along Via Appia Antica without stopping. Some tour guides just point the Domine Quo Vadis, and the tourists on the bus end up looking it back while their tour buses pass by the site at full speed on their way to nearby catacombs. You can visit this church by Bus 118 for € 1.5 one way or for free with one of the Rome tourist travel card. You can catch Bus 118 either at "Celio Vibbena" bus stop behind Colosseo or "Terme Caracalla" bus stop near Circo Massimo metro stop. "Celio Vibbena" bus stop behind Colosseo is easier to access than the bus stop near Circo Massimo metro stop. However, taking Bus 118 at "Terme Caracalla" bus stop near Circo Massimo metro stop is surer way. [Direction: (1) Take metro Line B (Blue Line) to Circo Massimo (one stop past Colosseo stop coming from Roma Termini). Get off the metro, and exit the metro station Via Viale Aventino exit. Standing at the metro exit, make sure that Circo Massima (field where chariot races used to take place in Ancient Rome) is across Via Viale Aventino. After making sure that you are on the correct side, turn right and follow Via Viale Aventino to the corner --> Turn right at the corner on to a broad street, "Vialle delle Terme di Caracalla". Look for a grass median on the road ahead --> Get on to the grass median with pine trees, and look for a bus stop with Bus 118 sign ("Terme Caracalla" stop). If you have a strange feeling that you are in the middle of nowhere, you are at the correct place. In due course of time (40 minute bus cycle), Bus 118 will come. Board the bus, and ask the bus driver to let you off at "Church Domine Quo Vadis". In a few minutes, the bus will drive along Via Cilicia with Aurelian Wall (Roman City Wall) on the left side. As soon as the bus makes right turn away from the wall on to Via Appia Antica, get ready to get off the bus, because your "Via Appia Antica/Domine Quo Vadis" is the 2nd stop from here. Since the bus driver might skip stops if not requested and the sign inside bus is not clear, you had better ask the bus driver again to let you off at "Domine Quo Vadis" stop. The "Domine Quo Vadis" stop is so obscure that you can easily miss it unless you remind the bus driver. At the bus stop, cross Via Appia Antica, and walk to the right hand direction until you come to a street corner on the left side. The Church of Domine Quo Vadis is at this corner. After visiting the church, walk back to the right hand direction to the bus stop for Bus 118 toward Roman wall. The bus will go back past "Terme Caracalla" stop where you boarded Bus 118 to go to the church. --> The bus will stop on Via Viale Aventino right next to Circo Massimo field on the right hand side. You will see Circo Metro station sign ahead of you. You can take metro back to Termini or your next destination. [Attached maps and photos would be helpful] [Warnings: (1) Never miss the bus stop, because walking back to this bus stop is uncomfortable and risky. The road is narrow with extremely narrow pedestrian paths. (2) Don't try to visit this church on Sunday as recommended by "The Rome Toolkit" website. On Sundays, vehicle traffic is banned on Via Appia Antica, including Bus 118.]
Written 22 February 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kryss P
Lakeland, FL663 contributions
Oct 2015 • Family
Our tour guide took us by this place, it was very interesting and he told us the story of the Jesus footprints.
Written 14 March 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
claudio d
Viterbo, Italy41,740 contributions
Aug 2023
The church is located about 800 meters from the current beginning of the Appia Antica (i.e. from outside Porta San Sebastiano), at the point where the road opens into three streets: on the left the continuation of the Appia Antica, in the center one of the entrance routes to the catacombs of San Callisto and on the right the Via Ardeatina. Of medieval origins, its current appearance is due to the seventeenth-century reconstruction. It is a fairly small building, without any particular architectural or artistic merit; its notoriety is due to the fact that it was built on the point where Saint Peter, who was fleeing from Rome to avoid being captured and put to death, met the Lord who was instead going in the opposite direction: hence Peter's famous question "Lord, where are you going?". The façade is delimited on the sides by pairs of pilasters and ends with a triangular tympanum; there is a single portal, also gabled, above which there is a large window. In the center of the tympanum of the facade there is the coat of arms of the Barberini family (the reconstruction of the church is in fact due to Cardinal Francesco Barberini) while four torches on the top complete the decorative apparatus. The interior has a single room where some frescoes are found, of unknown date and author: in the center of the back wall of the presbytery is the image of the Madonna del Transito, while in the lunette above there is the representation of the meeting between Jesus and Saint Peter as he fled Rome; on the side walls of the presbytery the crucifixion of Jesus is reproduced on one side and that of Saint Peter on the other; on two niches in the side walls of the hall, near the entrance, on the left is a reproduction of Saint Peter asking the Lord where he is going, and on the right is a reproduction of Jesus replying to Saint Peter who was coming to Rome to be crucified again; a further fresco (of San Francesco) can then be found in the chapel which opens on the left side of the hall. On the floor, in the centre, there is a marble stone imprinted with the imprints of two feet which tradition has it are those of Jesus who, after the meeting with Peter, before disappearing, left his footprints on the stone. However, it must be said that the stone on display is actually a replica because the original is found in the nearby church of San Sebastiano (also on the Appia Antica); furthermore, Christian tradition aside, it would seem that the relic is nothing more than a pagan votive stone, which Roman travelers normally offered to the god Redicolo to ensure the success of the journey.
Written 18 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lexi3
131 contributions
Nov 2019
How could anyone not rate this as a “5”? It’s a small church at the start of the Appian Way, itself a draw. Inside are facsimiles of footprints in stone said to be made by Jesus. I believe the original stone was moved to the Vatican. This is the spot where Jesus, after his Crucifixion, met Peter who was fleeing persecution in Rome. Jesus asked “Quo Vadis?” “Where are you going?” I won’t spoil the ending.
Written 25 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andy B
Belo Horizonte, MG596 contributions
Mar 2017 • Solo
Not much to see there, but, for devout Christians, it is worth a stop, if you're already nearby, at Via Appia Antica. It is located a few hundred feet, after Porta di San Sebastiano. The current church was built in 1637, but there had been a sanctuary, at that location, since the 9th century. It is quite a coincidence (?) that this church is located immediately in front of a sacred field dedicated to Rediculus, the Roman "God of the Return". Travelers worshiped the deity, before their departure on long voyages, and, also, upon returning, to thank the god for their safe journeys. But, nowadays, it is associated with Peter, the Apostle, fleeing persecution in Rome, meeting up with Jesus at that spot, and, subsequently, returning to Rome, to be martyred. Seriously.
Written 7 October 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Aniello Saggese
Baronissi, Italy2,092 contributions
Aug 2015 • Solo
This little church, named "Santa Maria delle piante", is well known with the name of "Domine quo vadis church" where a legend tells the meeting of Saint Peter with Jesus Christ on the old roman street of the Via Appia. The small church is suggestive. A marble stone on one of the wall tells the story of the church while on the other walls one in front of the other there are two fresco of Saint Peter and Jesus Christ with the words they said in that occasion. The marble footprint on the church floor remember us the old relics that were removed and are now exposed on the San Sebastiano church nearby.
Written 9 September 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Riverliver
Cleveland, OH604 contributions
Sept 2014 • Couples
The church is along the Apia Antica - the Old Roman Road. It is nothing to look at on the outside. The interior is also small and does not compare to the lovely basilicas of Rome. But there is a relic here that is interesting - the footprints of Jesus. Be on the lookout, as this block of stone with the footprints is right in the middle of the aisle as you walk in - and easy to trip over. It is fascinating to gaze on the footprints of Jesus.
Written 14 January 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
_Matea_2411
Groningen, The Netherlands262 contributions
June 2014 • Couples
After reading Quo vadis from Sienkiewicz- definetly wanted to stop here at least for a moment. It is very simple church, very peaceful and beautiful. It is on the beginning of Via appia antica and definetly worth a stop - here is where according to a legend st Peter met Jesus while he tried to flee persecution in Rome.
Written 23 June 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kimberly M
Sudbury, MA135 contributions
July 2012 • Family
This church is lovely- very small and situated at the base of the entrance to the Catacombs of Callisto. The highlight of the church is of course the footprints left behind by Jesus. See the website for the full story on how they came to be. The ones at the church are actually a reproduction- to see the originals you have to go to the San Sebastian Catacombs. They are right at the entrance of the church in the center aisle surrounded by a metal enclosure that is at mid calf level so be careful you don't trip over it!
Written 21 August 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wann ist die Kirche Domine qou vadis für Besucher offen?
Written 21 April 2017
The church is supposed to be open every day from 8.00 am to 7.30 pm. But it can close unexpectedly. It would be safer to contact them before your visit.
phone: +39 06 5120441 Best wishes.
Written 22 April 2017
What is the best way to reach Domine Quo Vadis? What do you recommend as a must see experience?
Written 26 February 2017
Bus 218 from San Giovanni Metro Station on Line A, Just watch for it on the left. It is a very small and not very impressive building but as a religious experience quite important.
Written 26 February 2017
Is the church open on Sundays? Is there a service? Do we need a ticket to enter?
Written 12 September 2015
The church seems more a museum than a place where a priest does a regular service. I confirm that you do not need to pay any ticket to visit this church. When I was there nobody was around and the entrance was completely free.
Written 13 September 2015
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