Since 1423, one of  the most significant symbols of the Jubilee Year is the opening of the Holy Door at the Basilica in Rome. The door is opened every 25 years, at the inauguration of the Holy Year. On Christmas Eve, according to the traditional rite, the pope during the solemn procession, he approaches to the door, he falls to his knees  three times, he knocks three times with a golden hammer on the Holy Door in order to strike the wall covering the Holy Door, then as the first, the pope enters the basilica. The ceremony symbolically refers to the words of Christ: „I am the door: whoever enters through me will be saved”. It was decided that the „Holy Door – Gold Door” will be open throughout the duration of Jubilee, day and night.

Existing from the times of ancient Christianity, the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica which remembers the times of Emperor Constantine, it was opened officially for the first time on Christmas Eve of 1499, by Pope Alexander VI.

After 1506, the new wooden door was made together with the construction of the new basilica. This door lasted until 1749. Then, the Pope Benedict XIV replaced it with a new one, in the Jubilee Year 1750.

The current Holy Door was founded in December 1949. It is made of bronze and contains the figural themes. It was created at the request of Pope Pius XII. It is a work of the sculptor Vico (Ludovico) Consortia (1902 – 1979), born in Siena. The author, in the creation of the Holy Door, succeeded in „create something very modern, but at the same time simple and clear. His stories made in bronze are beautiful and emotional, full of expression (…)”.

It was donated to the Holy Father by Archbishop Francis Streng, on behalf of the Diocese of Basileo – Lugano, as a gift for the Holy Year 1950. On the door, there are presented some scenes of the Bible illustrating the history of our salvation.

It is a double door. It is divided into 16 structures included in the frame-work (truss, lattice) made of wide strips (slats, rails).  There are eight structures in two vertical rows on each wing.

At the bottom, the composition is closed by a large base with inscriptions, which describe the circumstances of the door foundation and its task in the Jubilee Year. The structures of both wings are accompanied by brief explanatory subtitles.

The sequence of presented events starts at the top and flows horizontally across the width of the door, until the final structure, where it was commemorated the opening of the door celebrated by Pope Pius XII, in order to begin the jubilee year 1950. The theme of other structures is the Bible and it refers to the saving work of Christ. The four upper structures are like a prologue to the history of his saving mission. There are the expulsion of Adam and Eve out of the gates of Paradise, and the scene of Annunciation of the Incarnation. There are engraved the words of Marian hymn:  „Quod Heva tristis abstulit, tu reddis almo germine”. The following events are the ideological succession of the first ones.Christ was baptized in the Jordan and he began his public activity, then he brings redemption through his death on the cross. The scenes of the final structures refer to events after the Resurrection. There are the scenes with doubting Thomas, the transfer of power to forgive sins to the apostles and the conversion of Saul.The last structure shows the opening of Holy Door made by Pope Pius XII, who then summarized, in a few short words, the ideological message of the door: „Does it touch you? Or does it praise the magnificence of the mercy of the One who came to find what is missing?”.

The symbol of the gate or door is of great importance in the books of Sacred Scripture, it often returns in the Bible as the living and the current element in all periods of the history of Israel. Similarly, doors or gates receive their symbolism in the New Testament. Dividing, excluding, separating anything, the door reinforces the idea of order in space, becoming the symbol of the sacred and the profane.

The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 began on Christmas Eve 1999, with the opening of Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. On 24 December 1999, at 23.25, John Paul II opened the Holy Door. He prayed in silence for a moment, on the threshold of the temple, and then he showed to the faithful the book of the Gospel and as the first he passed through the Holy Door. For the first time the pope was accompanied by representatives of other Churches. The ceremony was attended by several cardinals, archbishops and bishops, and representatives of the clergy and religious orders.

Through radio and television the ceremony was followed by about 1.5 billion people around the world. After the Holy Door opening ceremony, the Pope celebrated the traditional midnight mass in St Peter’s Basilica. In his homily, he indicated Christ – the only Saviour of men, which is the Gate to the mystery of the Father’s love.

Given the nature of the work which is a replica of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, its execution has been entrusted to the Italian laboratory Domus Dei, which has the appropriate knowledge and skills. The door is a true copy of the Holy Door, it is the only replica of the world.