Tour of Three Major Basilicas

The entry to the subway station is in front of the Colosseo on the Via dei Fori Imperiali. The trip to S. Paolo station lasts about 15 minutes.

Watch for the station and get off here.

After passing in front of the campanile, the lane to reach the main entry is on the left, on St. Paul's place, which is more than 130 meters long.

This garden surrounded by columns was erected during the 19th century. In the middle of the garden, there's a statue of St. Paul; this sculpture dates from the 19th century. The mosaic over the entry is also recent.

This entry, with the two palm trees, the golden mosaic, the columns and the majestic sculpture of St. Paul with his sword, is the postal card of this atypical church.

St. Paul's Basilica is Rome's largest basilica after St. Peter's Basilica. Its base is 130 meters long by 65 meters wide and it rises to a height of 30 meters. On each side there's a forest of 80 huge monolithic granite columns from the 19th century.

As for St. Peter's Basilica, San Paulo Fuori le Mura was built during the fourth century by the Roman Emperor Constantine over the burial place of St. Paul. The original building was destroyed in 1823 unfortunately. The new building was reopened in 1840.

The ceiling is decorated with the portraits of all the former popes from St. Peter to Benedictus XVI.
The fifth century mosaics of the triumphal arch are original.

The cloister of the monastery was built between 1220 and 1241 by Vassaletto. The small columns are encrusted with marble and gold. This work is among the finest ever produced. Remnants of the former basilicas are exposed in the cloister.

The basilica was built by Sixtus III (432-440). The 14th century campanile is the highest in the city at 75 meters. The church is an extraterritorial property of the Vatican according to the Lateran Treaty signed in 1929 between Italy and the Holy See. So, by passing through the door of the church, you leave Italy.

It is the world's oldest church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, mother of the Christ. Legend claims that during a night in August 358, the Virgin Mary appeared in the dreams of the Pope Liberius indicating the place where a church should be erected. At dawn, in the middle of the summer, it snowed on the place indicated by Mary, convincing the pope to erect the church.

This basilica is famous for its mosaics. Home to the oldest Christian mosaics in Rome (fifth century), they depict Old Testament events and, on the big arch, the Annunciation, the Epiphany (visit of the three kings to the newborn Christ) and the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The apostles are symbolized by ewes.

Below the basilica is the Crypt of the Nativity, which is the burial place for St. Jerome, the fourth century doctor of the church who translated the Bible into Latin.

This door was carved during the 16th century in the battlements built by Aurelius during the third century. On the right just past the door there is a sculpture of St. Francis of Assisi commemorating the visit to the Pope Innocentus III by St. Francis in 1210 in this basilica.

As the official cathedral of Rome, it is the seat of the bishop of Rome, in other words, the pope. Oldest among the four papal basilicas, it claims the title of ecumenical mother church.

In 312, Constantine won his battle against Maxence and invaded Rome, stopping the Christian massacres. That's when he erected this basilica. Following several destructions (fire, war), the existing basilica was erected between the 17th and 18th centuries.

A curious fact about the basilica: In 897, the corpse of the Pope Formosus was exhumed and put on trial by Pope Stephen VI. The deceased pontiff was on a throne in his pope's vestments and was condemned for curious reasons; the corpse was stripped of its sacred vestments, deprived of three fingers on its right hand and thrown into the Tiber. The scandal caused by this strange trial ended in Stephen's imprisonment and his death by strangling during the same year.

The ceiling--from 1562--is famous as well as the wall of the right lateral door. The cloister from the 13th century was erected by Vassalettos and is among the world's most beautiful cloisters.

This was erected by the Emperor Constantine together with the basilica. All Roman Christians were baptized here during the fourth century. This small building has been renovated several times, however, and is thus quite different from its original construction.