Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls Audio Guide

St Paul left Palestine for Rome in around AD 60. A few years later, perhaps following the burning of the city by Nero (54-68) in 64, the apostle was sentenced to death.

His status as a Roman citizen entitled him to be beheaded. He was buried by his disciples outside the city alongside the Via Ostiensis (modern Via Ostiense). The Emperor Constantine (312-337), eager to create a magnificent setting for the saint’s tomb, erected the first basilica in 324.

Even before the century ended, the influx of pilgrims was so great that the building could not accommodate them. It was enlarged to the extent that it now dwarfed the contemporary St Peter’s. This ‘major’ basilica suffered less in the way of disasters than its sister church of St John Lateran until the night of 15-16 July 1823, when fire swept through the roof timbers and destroyed Constantine’s venerable foundation.

Nowadays pilgrims still flock from all around the world to the latest St Paul’s, a faithful if somewhat cold-looking replica.