Rome, 1300 : On the Path of the Pilgrim

Following seven centuries of tradition, Pope John Paul II has declared 2000 a Jubilee year.

This remarkable book takes us back to the first Holy Year, 1300, when Pope Boniface VIII promised eternal peace for the souls of all Christians who trekked to the Eternal City.

Two hundred thousand pilgrims flocked to Rome in that year, viewing the sacred Christian sites that figured so prominently in their religious lives.

This book takes us on the route of an imagined pilgrim of the first Jubilee, guiding us through the medieval city as she saw it and allowing us to experience its treasures and rituals.

Herbert L. Kessler and Johanna Zacharias discuss the transformation of pagan Rome into the Holy City of Christianity.

They explain how the major churches and the sacred relics, frescoes, icons, and mosaics within them served in the Middle Ages to attract the faithful and to confirm and teach belief. And they tell us what the churches and their contents looked like then, showing us how they have -- and have not -- changed.

Illustrated with works of art and architecture that survive today in surprising numbers, as well as with lost works reconstructed and revitalized through scholarship, the book looks at what pilgrims ventured to see in 1300 in Rome and what they will see today.