\paperw4260 \margr0\margl0 \plain \pard\tx150\tx870\tx1590\tx2310\tx3030\tx3750\tx4470\tx5190\tx5910\tx6630\ATXts240\qj\ATXbrdr0 \f1 \fs24 Beyond the gate, the floor is
placed at a level which is slightly lower and has a very different layout controlled in particular by the way it starts from the entrance door. \par
It indicated the procession route and was determined by the Pontifical Guards who kept it free from th
ose who had no right to join in the Pontifical Chapel. \par
The passage is decorated by a continous double spiral which closes six circles, the largest of which is very close to the entrance and is in porphyry. \par
This is the \i rota porphyretic
a\i0 which is the same point of the pavement in many of the bigger Roman Churches and marks the point where the Pope, whether celebrating, or the pilgrim entering, stop to kneel down. \par
