Pilgrims Heaven

Human beings are peculiar creatures, a tangle of desires and questions greater than themselves. They are finite beings with infinite nostalgia, fleeting creatures with claims of eternity.

Whatever its nature, the human root is intermingled with immanence and transcendence, the tangible and intangible. In this, architecture has always been and still is one of the main tools to shape abstract realities.

For almost a millennium, one of the milestones of the Western spirituality has been the celebration of the Jubilee. This is a Hebrew heritage and a special occasion where the Human and Divine meet.

The next Jubilee will be in 2025. This is the year when the gates of Heaven open to all the people who long for it. Not coincidentally, for centuries this has been enshrined through architecture in the act of dismantling the wall sealing up the Holy Doors. They are massive, finely crafted shutters which are the symbols of the heavenly gates and are historically bricked over within Papal basilicas and opened every 25 years for the Jubilee.

On that occasion, 35 million pilgrims will visit Rome. Many of them will flock not only to the established routes but also to more off-the-beaten-track itineraries resulting from distant traditions and precious silences.

The complex of Saint Peter in Tuscania belongs to one if these itineraries. It is a place of great historical and cultural value and comprises the homonymous basilica, the former bishop’s palace and an outdoor area with three medieval towers.

With its majestic Romanesque façade and mosaic-rich interiors, the church is a place where time seems to stand still, and ancient stones tell of distant times, pilgrimages, and devotion.

On the occasion of the Holy Year, St. Peter's Church will also need new spaces, where to exchange stories and experience moments of meditation, find a comfortable place to rest and live the experience of pilgrimage.

Pilgrims Heaven aims at meeting this need. This is the competition promoted by YAC and the Italian State Property Agency to design a hospitality and reception center for pilgrims at St. Peter's Church in Tuscania.

Pilgrims Heaven is an invitation to rethink the reception of pilgrims in one of Italy’s most evocative places. It aims at generating spaces that are functional, but also a source of reflection, harmony and beauty by enhancing once again one of the oldest and purest purposes of architecture: giving shape to intangible and spiritual elements.

YAC and the Italian State Property Agency thank all the architects who will take up this challenge.