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The Basilica of St Mary Salome and the Holy Stairs: the Third in the World, After Jerusalem and Rome
In the heart of Veroli (FR), in Largo Marconi, the Basilica of Santa Maria Salome holds the distinction of possessing the Holy Stairs, just the third in the world, behind only those of Jerusalem and San Giovanni in Laterano (St John Lateran) in Rome. It stands on the site where in 1209 the relics of the Saint — one of the holy women of the Gospel, mother of the apostles James the Greater and John the Evangelist - were found. Today she is patron saint of the town.
A Saint Who Came from Palestine
Tradition has it that Mary Salome reached Veroli with her companions Biagio and Demetrius, preached the Gospel there, and died there. Her bones remained hidden for centuries, until the young Tommaso found them on 25 May 1209. On the site of the discovery an oratory was immediately erected. It was enlarged into a church and then destroyed by the earthquake of 1349. The present structure is the reconstruction consecrated in 1492, completely revamped between the late 17th century and 1733 by Bishop Lorenzo Tartagni.
Twelve Steps, the Same Privilege as the Scala of Rome
Tartagni himself had the Scala Santa built in the second chapel of the right nave. Twelve stone steps, to be climbed strictly on one's knees. On the eleventh step a fragment of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem is set. On 30 June 1751 Pope Benedict XIV granted to the staircase the same apostolic privilege as the Scala Lateranense: a daily indulgence of 100 days and a plenary indulgence once a month.
What to See Beyond the Scala
In the apse is a painting of St Salome by the Cavalier d'Arpino; the frescoes of the dome are by Giacinto Brandi; there is a triptych by D.F. Hispanus of 1561; and 13th-century frescoes in the crypt, where a stone urn marks the exact point of the discovery.
