| Papal basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls | |
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Façade of the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls |
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Rome |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Year consecrated | 4th century |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Major basilica |
| Leadership | Francesco Monterisi |
| Website | Official Website |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Direction of façade | WbN |
| Groundbreaking | 4th century |
| Completed | 1823 |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 150 metres (490 ft) |
| Width | 80 metres (260 ft) |
| Width (nave) | 30 metres (98 ft) |
| Height (max) | 73 metres (240 ft) |
| Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura * | |
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| Country | Italy and Holy See |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, ii, iii, iv, vi |
| Reference | 91 |
| Region ** | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1980 (4th Session) |
| Extensions | 1990 |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO |
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The Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Paolo fuori le Mura), commonly known as St Paul's Outside the Walls, is one of Rome's four ancient major basilicas or papal basilicas[1]: the basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Peter's and Saint Paul Outside the Walls. Francesco Monterisi was named archpriest of the basilica in 2009.
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The basilica was founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine I over the burial place of Saint Paul, where it was said that, after the Apostle's execution, his followers erected a memorial, called a cella memoriae. This first edifice was expanded under Valentinian I in the 370s.
In 386, Emperor Theodosius I began erecting a much larger and more beautiful basilica with a nave and four aisles with a transept; the work including the mosaics was not completed until Leo I's pontificate (440–461). In the 5th century it was larger than the Old St. Peter's Basilica. The Christian poet Prudentius, who saw it at the time of emperor Honorius (395–423), 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 ("basilica of Three Lords").
Under Gregory the Great (590–604) the basilica was extensively modified. The pavement was raised to place the altar directly over Paul's tomb. A confession permitted access to the Apostle's sepulcher.
In that period there were two monasteries near the basilica: St. Aristus's for men and St. Stefano's for women. Masses were celebrated by a special body of clerics instituted by Pope Simplicius. Over time the monasteries and the basilica's clergy declined; Pope Saint Gregory II restored the former and entrusted the monks with the basilica's care.
As it lay outside the Aurelian Walls, the basilica was damaged in the 9th century during the Saracen invasions. Consequently, Pope John VIII (872–882) fortified the basilica, the monastery, and the dwellings of the peasantry, forming the town of Joannispolis (Italian: Giovannipoli) which existed until 1348, when an earthquake totally destroyed it.
In 937, when Saint Odo of Cluny came to Rome, Alberic II of Spoleto, 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, a rich merchant of Amalfi who lived in Constantinople, presented the bronze doors of the basilica maior, which were executed by Constantinopolitan artists; the doors are inscribed with Pantaleone's prayer that the "doors of life" may be opened to him.[2] Pope Martin V entrusted it to the monks of the Congregation of Monte Cassino. It was then made an abbey nullius. The abbot's jurisdiction extended over the districts of Civitella San Paolo, Leprignano, and Nazzano, all of which formed parishes. But the parish of San Paolo in Rome is under the jurisdiction of the cardinal vicar. The graceful cloister of the monastery was erected between 1220 and 1241.
From 1215 until 1964 it was the seat of the Latin Patriarch of Alexandria.
On 15 July 1823 a fire, started through the negligence of a workman who was repairing the lead of the roof, resulted in the almost total destruction of the basilica which, alone of all the churches of Rome, had preserved its primitive character for 1435 years. It was re-opened in 1840, and reconsecrated 1855 with the presence of Pope Pius IX and fifty cardinals. Completing the works of reconstruction took longer, however, and many countries made their contributions. The Viceroy of Egypt sent pillars of alabaster, the Emperor of Russia the precious malachite and lapis lazuli of the tabernacle. The work on the principal facade, looking toward the Tiber, was completed by the Italian Government, which declared the church a national monument. On 23 April 1891 an explosion at Porta Portese destroyed the stained glasses.
On 31 May 2005 Pope Benedict XVI ordered the Basilica to come under the control of an Archpriest and he named Archbishop Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo as its first archpriest.
The covered portico that precedes the facade is a Neo-classicist addition of the 19th-century reconstruction. The 20th-century door includes the remains of the leaves from the originary portal, executed by Staurachius of Chios around 1070 in Constantinople, with scenes from the New and Old Testament. On the right is the Holy Door, which is opened only during the Jubilees.
The new basilica has maintained the original structure with one nave and four aisles. It is 131.66 metres (432.0 ft) long, 65 metres (213 ft)-wide , and 29.70 metres (97.4 ft)-high, the second largest in Rome.
The nave's 80 columns and its stucco-decorated ceiling are from the 19th century. All that remains of the ancient basilica are the interior portion of the apse with the triumphal arch. The mosaics of the apse, work by Pietro Cavallini, were mostly lost in the 1823 fire; only a few traces were incorporated in the reconstruction. The 5th-century mosaics of the triumphal arch are original: an inscription in the lower section attest they were done at the time of Leo I, paid by Galla Placidia. The subject portrays the Apocalypse of John, with the bust of Christ in the middle flanked by the 24 doctors of the church, surmounted by the flying symbols of the four Evangelists. St. Peter and St. Paul are portrayed at the right and left of the arch, the latter pointing downwards (probably to his tomb).
The tabernacle of the confession of Arnolfo di Cambio (1285) 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. A 19th-century version can be seen now. The nave's interior walls were also redecorated with scenes from Saint Paul's life in two mosaics.
The sacristy contains a fine statue of Pope Boniface IX.
South of the transept is the cloister, considered "one of the most beautiful of the Middle Ages".[3] Built by Vassalletto in 1205-1241, it has double columns of different shapes. Some columns have inlays with golden and coloured-glass mosaics; the same decoration can be seen on the architrave and the inner frame of the cloister. Also visible are fragments from the destroyed basilica and ancient sarcophagi, one with scenes of the myth of Apollo.
According to tradition, Paul's body was buried two miles away from the place of his martyrdom, in the sepulchral area along the Ostiense Way, which was owned by a Christian woman named Lucina. A tropaeum was erected on it and quickly became a place of veneration.[4]
Constantine I erected a basilica on the tropaeum's site, and the basilica was significantly extended by Theodosius I from 386, into what is now known as Saint Paul Outside the Walls. During the 4th century, Paul's remains, excluding the head, were moved into a sarcophagus. (According to church tradition the head rests at the Lateran.) Paul's tomb is below a marble tombstone in the Basilica's crypt, at 1.37 metres (4.5 ft) below the altar. The tombstone bears the Latin inscription PAULO APOSTOLO MART ("to Paul the apostle and martyr"). The inscribed portion of the tombstone has three holes, two square and one circular. The circular hole is connected to the tomb by a pipeline, reflecting the Roman custom of pouring perfumes inside the sarcophagus, or to the practice of providing the bones of the dead with libations. The sarcophagus below the tombstone measures 2.55 metres (8.4 ft) long, 1.25 metres (4.1 ft) wide and 0.97 metres (3.2 ft) high.
The discovery of the sarcophagus is mentioned in the chronicle of the Benedictine monastery attached to the Basilica, in regard to the 19th century rebuilding. Unlike other sarcophagi found at that time, this was not mentioned in the excavation papers.[5]
On 6 December 2006, it was announced that Vatican archaeologists had confirmed the presence of a white marble sarcophagus beneath the altar, perhaps containing the remains of the Apostle.[6] A press conference held on 11 December 2006[7] gave more details of the work of excavation, which lasted from 2002 to 22 September 2006, and which had been initiated after pilgrims to the basilica expressed disappointment that the Apostle's tomb could not be visited or touched during the Jubilee year of 2000.[8] The sarcophagus was not extracted from its position, so that only one of its two narrow sides is visible.[9]
On 29 June 2009 Pope Benedict XVI announced that carbon 14 dating of bone fragments in the sarcophagus confirmed a date in the 1st or 2nd century. "This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul," Benedict announced at a service in the basilica to mark the end of the Vatican's Paoline year in honor of the apostle. With the bone fragments archaeologists discovered some grains of incense, and pieces of purple linen with gold sequins and blue linen textiles.[10]
A curved line of bricks indicating the outline of the apse of the Constantinian basilica was discovered immediately to the west of the sarcophagus, showing that the original basilica had its entrance to the east, like Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. The larger 386 basilica that replaced it had the Via Ostiense (the road to Ostia) to the east and so was extended westward, towards the river Tiber, changing the orientation diametrically.