Christian · A defined route

The Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome

The seven-church walk Philip Neri revived in the 1550s. About twenty-five kilometres, from St Peter's round to the Appian Way.

St Peter's Basilica
Photo: Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe facade and the dome from the square.

The journey in one line

7 stops in Vatican City and Italy. Complete means all 7 visited.

In the 1550s Philip Neri started taking friends on a day-long walk between seven Roman basilicas, with food, singing and long stops. It was meant as a cheerful alternative to carnival. The route caught on, and it has been walked in Holy Years ever since. The seven are the four papal basilicas plus St Lawrence, Holy Cross in Jerusalem and St Sebastian on the Appian Way. The Vatican published the itinerary again for the 2025 Jubilee, which is the membership used here. It is a city walk, not a wilderness route. You can do it in one long day or split it over two.

Each of these churches was built over something: a grave, a relic, a palace. Together they hold most of what Rome believed about its own Christian beginnings, in buildings that span the fourth century to the eighteenth. Walking between them rather than taking a bus is the point, because the distances are what turn seven visits into one journey.

About twenty-five kilometres in total. Most walkers start at St Peter's early, reach St Paul by late morning, San Sebastiano in the early afternoon and finish at St John Lateran or Santa Maria Maggiore. Several basilicas close for a few hours around midday, so the order matters more than the pace. Spring and autumn are best. In July and August the Appian stretch has little shade.

Where it goes

Preparing the map. The order below is the same information.

  1. 1St Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Vatican City
  2. 2Archbasilica of St John Lateran, Rome, Italy
  3. 3Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Rome, Italy
  4. 4Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, Italy
  5. 5Basilica of Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls, Rome, Italy
  6. 6Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, Rome, Italy
  7. 7Basilica of San Sebastiano Outside the Walls, Rome, Italy

7 stops, in order.

The stops, in order

What a visit means here. A visit means entering each of the seven basilicas. All seven visited completes the route. Walking the full twenty-five kilometres is a separate thing you may record for yourself; nothing here checks it or certifies it.

  1. 1

    St Peter's Basilica

    Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano

    Vatican City, Vatican City

    St Peter's Basilica
    Photo: Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe facade and the dome from the square.

    The basilica stands over a Roman cemetery where a first-century grave has been venerated as the tomb of Peter since at least the second century. The present church replaced Constantine's and took more than a hundred years to build. Bramante, Michelangelo, Maderno and Bernini each shaped part of it.

    What counts as a visit

    The basilica nave and the papal altar area. The dome climb, the Vatican Grottoes and the Scavi tour are separate tickets or bookings.

    Access

    Free entry with airport-style security screening and a strictly enforced dress code. Queues are long in the morning; checked 2026-09-16.

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

  2. 2

    Archbasilica of St John Lateran

    Arcibasilica Papale di San Giovanni in Laterano

    Rome, Italy

    Archbasilica of St John Lateran
    Photo: NikonZ7II, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe Borromini nave, the part that makes the building unmistakable.

    The cathedral of the Bishop of Rome and the oldest of the four papal basilicas, founded in the fourth century. Popes lived beside it for a thousand years. The nave holds twelve colossal apostles by Borromini's pupils, and the cloister next door is a Cosmati masterpiece.

    What counts as a visit

    The basilica nave. The cloister and the baptistery are adjacent and separately ticketed.

    Access

    Free entry to the basilica; the cloister is ticketed. Checked 2026-09-16.

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

  3. 3

    Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

    Basilica di San Paolo fuori le mura

    Rome, Italy

    Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
    Photo: StPaul.jpg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe nave with the papal medallions.

    Built over the burial place of Paul on the road to Ostia. Fire destroyed almost all of the fourth-century church in 1823 and it was rebuilt to the same plan. A band of portrait medallions of every pope runs round the nave above the columns.

    What counts as a visit

    The basilica nave, the confessio over the tomb and the cloister.

    Access

    Free entry to the basilica; the cloister and archaeological area are ticketed. Checked 2026-09-16.

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

  4. 4

    Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

    Rome, Italy

    Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
    Photo: NikonZ7II, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe nave and its fifth-century mosaics.

    The largest Marian church in Rome and the only one of the four papal basilicas that kept its early Christian core. Fifth-century mosaics run along the nave and across the triumphal arch. Legend says snow fell on the Esquiline in August to mark where it should stand.

    What counts as a visit

    The basilica nave and the mosaic cycle. The loggia and the archaeological area are separate visits.

    Access

    Free entry, with a dress code. Checked 2026-09-16.

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

  5. 5

    Basilica of Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls

    Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le mura

    Rome, Italy

    Basilica of Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls
    Photo: Livioandronico2013, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe rebuilt portico and the campanile.

    Two churches joined end to end over the grave of the deacon Lawrence, beside the Verano cemetery. Allied bombing wrecked the front in July 1943 and it was rebuilt from the surviving stone. The portico frescoes and the Cosmatesque floor are worth the walk.

    What counts as a visit

    The basilica, the portico and the confessio.

    Access

    Free entry, with a midday closure. Checked 2026-09-16.

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

  6. 6

    Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem

    Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme

    Rome, Italy

    Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem
    Photo: Livioandronico2013, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe baroque facade on the piazza.

    Founded inside the palace of Helena, mother of Constantine, to hold relics she brought back from Jerusalem. Soil from Jerusalem is said to have been laid under the floor, which is where the name comes from. A chapel off the nave displays the relics of the Passion.

    What counts as a visit

    The basilica and the relic chapel.

    Access

    Free entry, with a midday closure. Checked 2026-09-16.

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

  7. 7

    Basilica of San Sebastiano Outside the Walls

    Basilica di San Sebastiano fuori le mura

    Rome, Italy

    Basilica of San Sebastiano Outside the Walls
    Photo: NikonZ7II, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe basilica on the Appian Way.

    A basilica on the Appian Way above the catacombs that gave the word catacomb its meaning. It holds the tomb of Sebastian and a late Bernini bust of the Saviour. The stretch of ancient road outside is the traditional end of the seven-church walk.

    What counts as a visit

    The basilica. The catacombs beneath it are a separate guided visit with its own ticket.

    Access

    Free entry to the basilica; the catacombs are guided and ticketed and close on Sundays. Checked 2026-09-16.

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

Respect and access

These are working churches, not monuments. Shoulders and knees covered at every one, and St Peter's enforces it at the door. Stay out of the roped areas during Mass, keep phones silent, and do not use flash. Completing the walk is a record of seven visits. It is not a Jubilee indulgence, a pilgrim certificate or anything the Church has issued. Those have their own conditions and are granted by the Church, not by an app.

Opening times, prices, permits and eligibility change. Nothing on this page is a statement about today. Follow the Check access link on a place before you plan around it.

Sources

TravelDay selected and grouped these places. Naming a custodian, a government agency or UNESCO as a source is not a claim that any of them endorsed this journey.

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