Rome 2017: (18) Saint John’s Lateran

http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/san_giovanni/vr_tour/index-en.html

Saint John’s Lateran is a cultural landscape that signifies the role and influence of the Church in Italy and the details behind monumental landscapes, and political landscapes. The history of the building is significant since it is a church commissioned by Constantine to physically signify the newly Christian republic. When an Emperor passes a creed, it can often been ignored- but when there is a physical representation of the law, every person who sees it will not be able to ignore it. This is the power and necessity of cultural landscapes. What many people do not know is Saint John’s Lateran is the hearth of the Church today; it is the hinge point between

religion and politics. It is the physical location where all the decisions are made about Churches around the world. There is a statement being made by the propensity of the size of the structure. It is not a small underground church, it is a beautiful bright building covered in saints to signify the blessings bestowed on the Church. This building signifies the influence of the Church. In studying the Saint John’s Lateran it is crucial to understand the choice of choosing Saint John’s Lateran to be the hearth instead of the Saint Peter’s. In my opinion, this decision was created to preserve the purity of the building without tension in the middle of the tourist platform. It is like in the United States, the military decisions are not made at the White House, and they are made outside at the Pentagon. It encourages the check and balance process that bodies and institutions of power must preserve.