Home > St. Paul outside the Walls

As early as 200 the burial place of the great Apostle in the Via Ostia was marked by a cella memoriæ, near which the Catacomb of Comodilla was established. Constantine, according to the "Liber Pontificalis", transformed it into basilica.

In 386 Theodosius began the erection of a much larger and more beautiful basilica, but the work including the mosaics was not completed till the pontificate of St. Leo the Great. The Christian poet, Proudentius , describes the splendours of the monument in a few, expressive lines. As it was dedicated also to Saints Taurinus and Herculanus , martyrs of Ostia in the 5th century, it was called the basilica trium Dominorum.

Of the ancient basilica there remain only the interior portion of the apse with the triumphal arch and the mosaics of the latter; the mosaics of the apse and the tabernacleTabernacles redirects here. For the Feast of Tabernacles, see Sukkot. The Tabernacle is known in Hebrew as the Mishkan ("Place of [Divine] dwelling"). It was to be a portable central place of worship for the Children of Israel from the time they left anci of the confession of Arnolfo del Cambio belong to the 13th century. In the old basilica each pope had his portrait in a frieze extending above the columns separating the four aisles and naves.

In 1823Events July 15 San Paolo fuori le Mura church in Rome almost completely destroyed by fire September 10 Simon Bolivar named President of Peru December 2 US President James Monroe delivers a speech to the United States Congress, announcing a new policy of f a fire, started through the negligence of a workman who was repairing the lead of the roof, resulted in the destruction of the basilica. Alone of all the churches of Rome, it had preserved its primitive character for one thousand four hundred and thirty-five years. The whole world contributed to its restoration. The Viceroy of EgyptJumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah ( In Detail) Official language Arabic Capital Cairo Largest City Cairo President Hosni Mubarak Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif Area Total % water Ranked 29th 1,001,450 km² 0. 6% Population Total (2003) Density Ranked 15th 74,718,797 sent pillars of alabasterAlabaster (sometimes called satin spar is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals: gypsum (a hydrous sulfate of calcium) and the calcite (a carbonate of calcium). The former is the alabaster of the present day; the latter is generally the ala, the Emperor of RussiaThe Russian Federation ( Russian: , transliteration: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya or Rossijskaja Federacija , or Russia (Russian: , transliteration: Rossiya or Rossija , is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of eastern Europe and northern Asia. With the precious malachiteMalachite is a carbonate mineral (basic copper(II) carbonate) with hardness between 3. 5 and 4 on the Mohs scale. It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagtitic masses. Malachite often results fr and lapis lazuliLapis lazuli is one of the oldest of all gems, with a history of use stretching back 7,000 years. Lapis is a rock and not a mineral because it is made up from various other minerals (to be a true mineral it would have one constituent only). The name deriv of the tabernacle. The work on the principal facade, looking toward the TiberThe River Tiber ( Italian Tevere , the third longest river in Italy at 406 km (252 miles) after the Po, flows through the Campagna and Rome in its course from Mount Fumaiolo to the Tyrrhenian Sea, which it reaches in two branches that cross the suburbs of, was completed by the Italian Government, which declared the church a national monument. The interior of the walls of the nave are adorned with scenes from the life of St. Paul in two series of mosaics.

The graceful cloister of the monastery was erected between 1220 and 1241. The sacristy contains a fine statue of Pope Boniface IX. In the time of Gregory the Great there were two monasteries near the basilica: St. Aristus's for men and St. Stefano's for women. Services were carried out by a special body of clerics instituted by Pope Simplicius. In the course of time the monasteries and the clergy of the basilica declined; St. Gregory II restored the former and entrusted the monks with the care of the basilica. The popes continued their generosity toward the monastery; the basilica was again injured during the Saracen invasions in the 9th century. In consequence of this Pope John VIII fortified the basilica, the monastery, and the dwellings of the peasantry, forming the town of Joannispolis, which was still remembered in the 13th century.

In 937, when St. Odo of Cluny came to Rome, Alberico II , patrician of Rome, entrusted the monastery and basilica to his congregation and Odo placed Balduino of Monte Cassino in charge. Pope Gregory VII was abbot of the monastery and in his time Pantaleone of Amalfi presented the bronze gates of the basilica, which were executed by Constantinopolitan artists. Pope Martin V entrusted it to the monks of the Congregation of Monte Cassino. It was then made an abbey nullius. The jurisdiction of the abbot extended over the districts of Civitella San Paolo, Leprignano, and Nazzano, all of which formed parishes; the parish of San Paolo in Rome, however, is under the jurisdiction of the cardinal vicar.