At the entrance of the precious chapel called Sancta Sanctorum you can see a Latin inscription which says, "There is no more sacred place throughout Rome". And in fact this chapel, founded 1500 years ago and reconstructed in the second half of the 13th century when the church was still the seat of the popes, can be considered no less than the model for the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The most solemn ceremonies of the pontiffs took place here, and it preserved the church's most revered relics.
Even though it has been restored recently, it still maintains its marvelous 13th-century decoration and square architectural layout, which is very simple but already tied to the then-new Gothic art, as you can see in the presence of the vault with acute arches.
