View source for Santa Maria in Palmis

{{short description|Small church southeast of Rome, Italy}}
{{no footnotes|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox religious building
| name                  = Santa Maria in Palmis
| native_name           = Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Piante {{in lang|it}}<br/>Sanctae Mariae in Palmis {{in lang|la}}
| image                 = Domine quo vadis (Santa Maria in Palmis) - esterno.jpg
| caption               = The facade of the church
| location              = [[Via Appia Antica]], 51<br>[[Rome]], [[Italy]]
| coordinates           = {{coord|41|51|59.4|N|12|30|13.4|E|region:IT-RM_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| religious_affiliation = [[Roman Catholic]]
| rite                  = 
| province              = 
| district              = 
| consecration_year     = 
| status                = Parish church
| leadership            = Marian Babula, [[Congregation of Saint Michael the Archangel|CSMA]]
| website               = [https://web.archive.org/web/20100928042932/http://www.vicariatusurbis.org/Ente.asp?ID=881 vicariatusurbis.org]
| architect             = 
| architecture_type     = [[Church (building)|Church]]
| architecture_style    = 
| specifications        = yes
| facade_direction      = Southwest
| groundbreaking        = 
| year_completed        = 1637
| construction_cost     = 
| capacity              = 
| length                = {{convert|17|m|ft|sp=us}}
| width                 = {{convert|11|m|ft|sp=us}}
| width_nave            = 
| height_max            = 
|map_type=Rome
| materials             = }}
'''Santa Maria in Palmis''' ({{langx|it|Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Piante}}; {{langx|la|Sanctae Mariae in Palmis}}), also known as '''Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis''', is a small [[Church (building)|church]] southeast of [[Rome]]. It is located about some 800&nbsp;m from [[Porta San Sebastiano]], where the [[Via Ardeatina]] branches off the [[Appian Way]], on the site where, according to the [[New Testament apocrypha|apocryphal]] ''[[Acts of Peter]]'', [[Saint Peter]] met the risen [[Jesus Christ|Christ]] while Peter was fleeing persecution in Rome. According to the tradition, Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?" ({{langx|la|Domine, quo vadis?}}). Christ answered, "I am going to Rome to be crucified again" ({{langx|la|Eo Romam iterum crucifigi}}).

== History ==
[[File:Domine quo vadis (Santa Maria in Palmis) - interno.jpg|thumb|left|The interior]]
There has been a sanctuary on the spot since the ninth century, but the current church is from 1637. The current façade was added in the 17th century.

[[File:Roma - Chiesa di Santa Maria in Palmis - 2023-12-08 23-02-07 010.jpg|thumb|right|The venerated icon of Madonna delle Piante]]

It has been supposed that the sanctuary might have been even more ancient, perhaps a Christian adaptation of an already existing [[temple]]: the church is in fact located in front of the sacred ''campus'' dedicated to [[Rediculus]], the Roman "God of the Return". This ''campus'' hosted a sanctuary for the cult of the deity that received devotion by travellers before their departure, especially those going to face long and dangerous journeys to far-off places like [[Egypt]], [[Greece]] or the East. Those travellers upon their safe return also stopped to thank the god for the happy outcome of their journey.

The presence of the Apostle Peter in this area, where he is supposed to have lived, appears to be confirmed in an [[epigraphy|epigraph]] in the [[Catacombs of Rome#Catacombs of San Sebastiano|Catacombs of Saint Sebastian]] that reads ''Domus Petri'' ({{langx|en|House of Peter}}). An [[epigram]] by [[Pope Damasus I]] (366–384) in honor of Peter and [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul]] reads: "You that are looking for the names of Peter and Paul, you must know that the saints have lived here."
[[Image:I piedi del quo vadis.jpg|thumb|250px|Rome, via Appia Antica, Quo vadis Church: footprints believed to be those of St Peter]]
The two footprints on a marble slab at the center of the church — nowadays a copy of the original, which is kept in the nearby [[San Sebastiano fuori le mura|Basilica of San Sebastiano fuori le mura]] — are popularly believed to be a miraculous sign left by Jesus.<ref>Erik Inglis, “Inventing Apostolic Impression Relics in Medieval Rome,” Speculum 96/2 (April, 2021), 309-66.</ref> The official name of the church alludes to these footprints: ''palmis'' refers to the soles of Jesus' feet. 

An inscription above the front door on the church's façade formerly read "Stop your walking, traveller, and enter this sacred temple in which you will find the footprint of our Lord Jesus Christ when He met with St. Peter who escaped from the prison. An alms for the wax and the oil is recommended in order to free some spirits from [[Purgatory]]." [[Pope Gregory XVI]] found the advertising tone of this inscription so inappropriate that he ordered its removal in 1845.{{citation needed|date=May 2011}}

There is also a modern column with a bust of [[Henryk Sienkiewicz]], the Polish author of the famous historical fiction novel ''[[Quo Vadis (novel)|Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero]]'' (1896). It is said that Sienkiewicz was inspired to write his novel while sitting in this church.

The church is currently administered by priests of the [[Congregation of Saint Michael the Archangel]].

== See also ==
* [[Quo vadis]]
* [[Saint Peter's tomb]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{commons category inline|Santa Maria in Palmis (Rome)}}
* {{Official website|URL=http://www.vicariatusurbis.org/Ente.asp?ID=881}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic churches in Rome]]
[[Category:Relics associated with Jesus]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic churches completed in 1637]]
[[Category:Rome Q. IX Appio-Latino]]
[[Category:1637 establishments in Italy]]
[[Category:Legendary footprints]]