Your Guide to St Paul's Outside the Walls in Rome, Italy | Basilica di San Paolo fuori le mura

Hi friends, welcome back to my channel. I wanted to make a video today about a church that I've never made a video of before, Basilica San Paolo, or Basilica di San Paolo fuori le mura, which means St. Paul's beyond the walls, outside the walls. It is one of the four major papal basilicas, which means it's under the direct jurisdiction of the Pope. And after the Vatican, this one is the largest. It's not in the city center, so I think it's often overlooked by visitors, unless you're specifically coming on some kind of Catholic pilgrimage, or you like to visit basilicas. It's kind of out of the way. The remains of St. Paul are located here, and there's a really long history. If you're new here, hi, my name is Alyssa, and I'm an American photographer living in Rome, Italy. Here on my channel you'll find lots of vlogs about my life living in Italy, learning Italian, churches, art, history, and more, so if that sounds good to you, hit subscribe so you never miss a video. Okay, and without further ado, let's go inside and I'll show you around. St. Paul outside the walls has this name because it's located outside the Aurelian walls that go around Rome. St. Paul was beheaded not far from here, and the church was built by Constantine to honor him. If you're facing the church from the courtyard, you'll see three different doors. The middle door is known as the Byzantine or bronze door, and this one was here before the 19th century basilica. It was commissioned in 1070 by Pantaleone, Consul of Amalfi in Constantinople. It depicts a number of episodes in the life of Christ and the apostles. These are the holy or jubilee doors, which are only opened during jubilee years. In 1823, this church burnt to the ground, so almost everything we see today has been rebuilt since then, although there are some pieces of marble in the floor that would have come from an earlier time, maybe even from ancient Rome. The architectural layout is a true 4th century ancient Roman basilica. Basilica, I recently learned, is actually a term for an architectural style. Basilicas were originally government buildings with a large oblong hall or a building with double colonnades and a semi-circular apse, used in ancient Rome as a law court or for public assemblies. When Christianity took over, they kept these buildings and converted them into churches. All along the sides in this church, you'll see the portraits of every pope since the beginning of time, since St. Peter, the first pope, and the current pope, Pope Francis, is lit up with a spotlight. The sarcophagus where Paul is buried is located here, and you're allowed to just walk right up to it and visit it. This area in particular survived the fire. The columns on this altarpiece collapsed, and the altar fell straight on top of the tomb and protected it from the fire. Above the sarcophagus, you'll see a box holding chains, and these are the chains that held St. Paul when he was in prison here in Rome. The mosaics of the apse were greatly damaged in the 1823 fire, and only a few traces were incorporated in the restoration. The 5th century mosaics of the triumphal arch are original, but heavily reworked. It 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 on the right and left of the arch, and this little thing at the foot of Christ, I never knew what it was supposed to be. Maybe I need to get my eyes checked, but I could never see it. And if you look closely, it's actually paying homage to Pope Honorius III, who commissioned all of it. He's supposed to be kneeling at the foot of Christ. I always thought it was some kind of snail. This candle stand is from 1170, and it also survived the fire. It's called the Pascal candle, or the Easter candle, and it symbolizes Christ as light of the world. It's lit during the great Easter vigil, and on certain special occasions during the year. It's very elaborate and ornate, and you can spend quite a while looking at all of the different carvings. From the inside of the church, the windows may appear to be stained glass, but they are actually translucent alabaster. I wanted to share a quick photography tip with you. If you're ever trying to take a photo inside churches, or even out in the streets, look down at the floor or the ground. They built everything using symmetry, so if you position yourself right in the center of a shape, or something that's on the ground, like a rain cover for example, it will line you up perfectly and give you a centered shot every time. South of the transept, or if you struggle with directions like I do, to the right of the transept is the cloister. Today you have to pay to enter, but it was created between 1220 and 1241, and it's considered to be one of the most beautiful of the middle ages. It has double columns of different shapes. Some columns have inlays with gold and colored glass mosaics, and there are also visible fragments from the destroyed basilica and ancient sarcophagi. When I first moved to Rome six years ago, was it six years? Seven years ago? I first lived in this neighborhood, so it's nice to be back here today. If you're looking to come visit this church, it's really easy to get to using the metro. You're going to use the blue line, line B, and get off at the stop Basilica San Paolo. This church is open every day from 7 a.m to 6 30 p.m, and a lot of people ask me if churches cost anything to get into, and here in Rome they don't. And so going inside churches is always one of my favorite things to do in Rome. This neighborhood also has some good local restaurants and some shopping, and like I said, it's away from the city center, so it's less touristy and it feels a lot more local. And it's also really well connected via metro and bus. I hope all that information was helpful to you. If you liked this video, go ahead and give it a thumbs up, comment down below, let me know what you think. Thank you for watching this video, and I will see you in the next one. Bye friends!