Steps Jesus walked to trial restored to glory

One of the Roman Catholic Church's holiest relics, which contains the steps believed to have been climbed by Jesus on his way to trial before Pontius Pilate, has been restored to its former glory.The Santa Scala, or Holy Stairs, were brought to Rome from Jerusalem in the fourth century AD and placed in the former papal palace opposite the basilica of St John Lateran.However, restorers found that the sanctity of the staircase had not had an effect on the behaviour of some tourists. "We found chewing gum stuck to the wood of the stairs," said Alessandra Scerrato, the secretary of the Friends of the Holy Stairs association.The 28 white marble steps, which are encased in wood for their protection, are so holy that pilgrims are only allowed to ascend on their knees.The kneeling position also allows them to gaze through holes in the wood which allegedly reveal spots of Christ's blood on the marble beneath. Pilgrims who ascend the staircase are given a full indulgence of their sins.Charles Dickens, who visited the staircase in 1845, was unimpressed by the Catholic ritual, calling it a "dangerous reliance on outward observances" and added: "I never, in my life, saw anything at once so ridiculous and so unpleasant as this sight."In 1589, Pope Sixtus V commissioned 17,000 sq ft of frescoes to surround the stairs. The painted walls and ceiling had been darkened by centuries of smoke from the candles of visitors."The hardest part was to remove the soot," said Francesco China, one of the restorers. A number of noted 16th century artists, including Baldassare Croce, who assisted in the painting of the Sistine Chapel, contributed to the frescoes.They were restored millimetre by millimetre, using digital cameras to discern the original image.The Holy Stairs originally led to the praetorium, or judgment hall, of Pontius Pilate's palace in Jerusalem. Worshippers believe that they were sanctified by Jesus's footsteps.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/14/wsteps114.xml
PS:In this article is said that pilgrims are given full indulgnce of their sins if they go up these stairs on their knees.The practice of "indulgences"pertains to the Catholic Church.They are not biblical.An indulgence means-according to their creed-"a special heavenly treasure which the Church grants us to repay the debt we owe God for our sins and heal the damage done to our souls by sin.God has allowed the Church to attach indulgences to certain actions or prayers,so that when we perform these actions or pray these prayers,we can receive the indulgence.Although indulgences cannot be applied to the living (they have to get their own indulgences!),we can help the Souls in Purgatory to reach Heaven sooner by applying the indulgences we receive, to them, to help pay their debt to God..."Basically that's what it is.I'll elaborate more later on this.
"Indulgences" along with "purgatory" among other things are not biblical.
According to Scripture only Jesus can forgive sins.
According to Scripture to there is not a "purgatory" but a literal "hell" to which all the souls that rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and didn't believe in Him,go when they die.
As in the days of Noah....