Church of Domine Quo Vadis

Church important for Polish people with copy of footprint of Jesus and bust of Henryk Sienkiewicz ( He is remembered for his historical novels, such as the Trilogy series and especially for his internationally known best-seller Quo Vadis. In 1905 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "outstanding merits as an epic writer")

Beautiful, small, quiet. On Via Appia Antica , on the way to Catacombs. A place for pray and silence away from daily turmoil. A place of return to God. And a less known work of Michelangelo. The church is named after my favourite book about beginnings of Christianity. On our last visit we even happened upon a mass. Just what my soul needed. Utterly perfectly amazing!

Stumbled across this charming little church on the way back from visiting the catacombs at San sabastiano and callistus. It was quiet, a lovely spot to pray, with a marble slab marking the spot where an apparition of Jesus is said to have appeared to Peter. The “original” footprints are in San Sebastiano. Jesus is meant to have been asked by Peter where he was going - a good question. Back to Rome to be crucified again was his answer. This gave Peter the courage to return to Rome and face his martyrdom.

What a wonderful small church off the Appian Way. Regardless of your faith, the history and message are powerful. I know some may debate authenticity and historical accuracy, but to me, I believe in the message. To imagine the time period, and to think that Peter’s feet may have touched this stone is just unfathomable to me. Highly recommend a visit to pause, rest and reflect.

Saint Peter the apostle, fleeing Rome in 64 AD from the persecution of Christians, met Jesus on the road. Saint Peter asked Jesus: "Quo vadis domine?" "Where are you going, Lord?" to which Jesus replied: "Eo Romam iterum crucifigi" "I am going to Rome to be crucified". Thus admonished, Saint Peter turns around and goes back to Rome to share the fate of the persecuted Christians. Shortly afterwards he is also crucified. Jesus disappears, leaving the prints of his feet on a stone. A small single-nave church was built on this site so that the stone would be inside the church. It is now a replica, and the alleged original stone is located in the nearby Basilica of Saint Sebastian.

Small, quiet church. Loved to visit while in Rome.

A small church with a powerful impact. The church is small and it supposedly built on the spot where St Peter meet The Christ while fleeing Roma and said Lord where are you going. A must stop on a Catholic pilgrimage

Worth the effort to get to and free to walk into. It’s a fair walk from centre of Rome but the walk takes you past the Circus Maximus and onto the Appian Way. The church takes its name from the oral tradition according to which the apostle Peter, fleeing from the city to avoid martyrdom, meets Jesus to whom he addresses the following words “Domine quo vadis (Lord, where are you going)?” And the Lord replied “Venio Romam iterum crucifigi (I am coming to Rome to be crucified again)”. Peter, aware of the rebuke, turns back to face his destiny and Jesus disappears but, in disappearing, he leaves the impressions of his footprints on the road. As evidence of the incident, within the Church there is a stone with the imprints “of His holy feet”, left by Jesus precisely on the site where the Church now stands. The stone is actually a copy: the original is in fact preserved in the Basilica of San Sebastiano. The second name with which the church is known: Santa Maria “in Palmis” derives from this episode.