'Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Rome, Italy' - by K J S Chatrath

 

During my last visit to Rome in 2023, I made it to the Basilica of St. Paul though it was drizzling. But I was lucky and soon the sky became clear and I could spend a few hours admiring at this Basilica.

The Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls is one of the four papal basilicas of Rome, the second largest basilica after St. Peter’s.

According to tradition, the church lies on the site where the Apostle Paul was buried; here the Christians erected a sepulchral chapel, namely a memorial, later transformed into a basilica by the Emperor Constantine and consecrated in 394 by Pope Sylvester.

The works to expand the temple began in 385 and were completed in 395 by Emperor Honorius. It was Pasquale Belli, collaborating with other architects, who rebuilt it between 1825 and 1854, after a devastating fire in 1823.

The interior is divided into five naves by eighty monolithic granite columns: the six ones of the entrance wall are the most remarkable, donated by the Viceroy of Egypt to Gregory XVI. The central nave, wider than others, has mosaics on the walls with portraits of popes, also present in the aisles, and frescoes with stories from the life of St. Paul.