Rome & Lazio - Italy - page 202

Basilica di San Paolo Fuori le Mura
( www.abbaziasanpaolo.net ; Via Ostiense 190; cloisters €4; 7am-6.30pm; San Paolo) The largest
church in Rome after St Peter's (and therefore the world's third-largest), this magnificent
basilica stands on the site where St Paul was buried after being decapitated in AD 67. Built
by Constantine in the 4th century, it was largely destroyed by fire in 1823 and much of
what you see is a 19th-century reconstruction.
However, many treasures survived, including the 5th-century triumphal arch , with its
heavily restored mosaics, and the Gothic marble tabernacle over the high altar. This was de-
signed around 1285 by Arnolfo di Cambio together with another artist, possibly Pietro
Cavallini. To the right of the altar, the elaborate Romanesque Paschal candlestick was fash-
ioned by Nicolò di Angelo and Pietro Vassalletto in the 12th century and features a grim
cast of animal-headed creatures. St Paul's tomb is in the nearby confessio .
Looking upwards, doom-mongers should check out the papal portraits beneath the nave
windows. Every pope since St Peter is represented and legend has it that when there is no
room for the next portrait, the world will fall. There are eight places left.
Also well worth a look is the stunning 13th-century Cosmati mosaic work in the cloisters
of the adjacent Benedictine abbey.

BASILICA

Via Appia Antica
(Appian Way; Via Appia Antica) Named after consul Appius Claudius Caecus who laid the
first 90km section in 312 BC, ancient Rome's regina viarum (queen of roads) was extended
in 190 BC to reach Brindisi on Italy's southern Adriatic coast. Nowadays, Via Appia
Antica (the Appian Way) is one of Rome's most exclusive addresses, a beautiful cobbled
thoroughfare flanked by grassy fields, ancient ruins and towering pine trees.
But it has a dark history - it was here that Spartacus and 6000 of his slave rebels were
crucified in 71 BC, and it was here that the early Christians buried their dead in 300km of
underground catacombs . You can't visit all 300km, but three major catacombs (San Callisto,
San Sebastiano and Santa Domitilla) are open for guided exploration.

HISTORIC SITE

Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis?
(Via Appia Antica 51; 8am-6.30pm Mon-Fri, 8.15am-6.45pm Sat & Sun winter, to 7.30pm summer;
Via Appia Antica) This pint-sized church marks the spot where St Peter, fleeing Rome, met a
vision of Jesus going the other way. When Peter asked: ' Domine, quo vadis?' (Lord, where
are you going?), Jesus replied, ' Venio Roman iterum crucifigi' (I am coming to Rome to

CHURCH