Since the 15th century, the Roman Catholic church has celebrated a ‘Year of Jubilee’ every 25 years, during which pilgrims from around the world travel to Rome for a series of events, festivals, and visits to holy sites. 2025 is one such year, with awareness having been heightened further by the recent death of Pope Francis and election of Pope Leo XIV – the first time a new pope has been elected during a Jubilee year since 1700.
Over 30 million pilgrims are expected to arrive in Rome throughout the year, in addition to the similar number of tourists which visit the Italian capital every year. While the 49-hectare Vatican City state – now the world’s smallest sovereign nation – is a focus for many, maps have long been used to guide pilgrims along itineraries of basilicas and holy sites all around Rome.
Erhard Etzlaub’s famed ‘Das ist der Rom weg‘ – the first known German road map of any kind – was produced for the 1500 Jubilee, guiding travellers to Rome via a series of dotted lines across a map oriented with south (and Rome) at the top.
After arriving in the fabled city, pilgrims’ accounts record the inspiring nature of encountering its holy sites:
[On St Peter’s Basilica] “In a word, ‘tis the most perfect model of decent magnificence in the world, there being an answerable uniformity, both within and without.”
From “A pilgrimage to the grand jubilee at Rome, in the year 1700″ (1701)
In more recent years, official publications have been produced by Jubilee organisers to provide maps and practical information to visitors. ‘Little guide to Rome : for the pilgrims of the twentyfifth jubilee‘ (1950) (by the Press Office of the Central Committee for the Holy Year) includes a series of twenty detailed 3D maps of the city, in addition to an overview index map. These ensure landmarks are visible by rendering much of the city as grey blocks, and only notable buildings with brown pictorial representations.
While some maps are produced with a very practical navigational purpose in mind, others are considerably more decorative, such as the impressive ‘Forma urbis Romae : pianta monumentale di Roma per il Grande Giubileo dell’anno Duemila‘ (The form of the city of Rome : monumental plan of Rome for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000). At first glance, the map appears to be considerably older, with a cartographic style and surrounding cartouches reminiscent of the the Renaissance. However, the map is in fact an original work produced for the 2000 Jubilee by the Vatican Apostolic Library, engraved on a copperplate using traditional methods. The artwork around the edges of the map reveal its modernity, with modern landmarks appearing among the city’s ancient monuments.
A newly acquired map produced for the 2025 Jubilee (by Edizioni Cartografiche Lozzi) returns to a navigational use, prominently highlighting ‘Percorsi giubilari’ (Jubilee routes) around the city in yellow, navigating pilgrims around four extensive, colour-coded itineraries.
Again, helpful pictorial renderings of famous landmarks en route provide a useful navigation aid. The inclusion of accompanying information in six languages (Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, and Polish) highlights the international nature of the event, and a calendar of events is placed at the bottom. The map is foldable and laminated, clearly intended for use ‘in the field’. Whether such maps of the Eternal City will be fully digital by the time of the 2050 Jubilee remains to be seen.
