The Scala Sancta (English: Holy Stairs, Italian: Scala Santa) are a set of 28 white marble steps located within a building in Rome near the Lateran Basilica and is an extraterritorial property of the Holy See. The steps, long encased in a protective framework of wooden steps, are located in a building that incorporates part of the old Lateran Palace. The stairs lead to the Sancta Sanctorum (English: Holy of Holies), the personal chapel of the early Popes known as the chapel of St.