John's Janiculum Jaunt: Le Mura Diventare

Most of the day was spent going away from the Wall or outside the Wall. The City was at one time completely walled in for defensive reasons. Today much of the Wall still exists so anything on the other side is "Outside the Wall". The building I live in is actually "on the Wall", at least two sides of it anyway.

The morning was at St. Paul's Outside the Wall and the afternoon was spent at the Doria Pamphili Park.

St. Paul's was the oldest and finest example of a Basilica built by Constantine until a workman left a torch burning he was using to repair a lead seal on the roof in the 19th Century. It burned to the ground. A few things miraculously survived the fire such as the Ciborium done by Arnolfo Di Cambio, the pascal candle stand, one door and part of the Apse Mosaic. The Church was rebuilt exactly as it had been and is a truly spectacular building. I think it is the nicest of all the Basilica's. It has the courtyard that leads to the Porch that leads into the Church. It is spacious, filled with columns, arches, mosaics etc. It is devoid of ostentatious and pompous Papal, Cardinal, or Princely memorials. It is clean in it's design. It is not layer upon layer of showy tombs.

The outer courtyard, this is where you enter the complex

Inside the Courtyard and in front of the Church

Interior of the Basilica

The apse mosaic, this survived the fire

This is the Ciborium created by Arnolfo Di Cambio. It has 4 Purple Porphryr Columns and is decorated inside and outside. It appear delicate, almost like it is suspended over the Altar. Beneath it is the Papal Altar and directly below that is the tomb of St. Paul. This picture is taken from the Apse looking toward the Front doors of the church. You can see the gilded coffered ceiling and the Windows just below. All the windows are made of finest Egyptian Alabaster donated by the King of Egypt after the fire. After the fire people from all over the world gave money to rebuild the Church, even non-Christians like the King of Egypt and a Sultan.

The Ciborium (like a Baldacchino) that survived the fire

The Papal Throne

This is a really neat little chapel the architect built as complete replica of a Roman Pagan Temple. The columns and capitals were all from an ancient pagan temple. In place of the statue of the god, St. Benedict was placed above the altar. The Basilica is cared for by the Benedictine Monks. It is a center for ecumenical activity and the promotion of goodwill between world religions.

Chapel to St. Benedict

Statue of Christ in the Baptistry

This is the stand for the pascal candle, it too survived the fire.

One of the two side altars made from Malachite given by the Czar of Russia

Around 2005 the Pope authorized an archeological dig under the main altar to determine where the tomb of St. Paul was located. This also allows pilgrims to see the Marble Coffin of St. Paul. In 2009 a probe was send into the tomb and they found purple cloth with silver sequins, gold threads and linen consistent with Constantine's wrapping the bones in precious material. Some bone fragments were removed and Carbon 14 testing was done to determine the age of the bone, it was consistent with a man of Paul's era and Pope Benedict made a statement that this seems to be Paul's remains. They also discovered a marble tomb stone laying on top of the tomb consistent with the type used in early Christianity. It said, "Paul Apostle and Martyr" It had a hole where pilgrims could stick their hand in with a piece of cloth and touch the remains to create a 2nd class relic to remember their pilgrimage to the Apostles tomb, also consistent with the period.

The Confessio, the grill is where the tomb is found

close up of the Sarcophagus of St. Paul

Exact replica of the tombstone on the sarcophagus of St. Paul found in the Sacristy

6 Precious Egyptian Alabaster Columns given by the King of Egypt

This is a holy water font showing a child about to bless themselves while the devil shields himself from the power of the baptismal water contained in the font. Neat!

Holy Water Font

The Basilica is also famous for it's rondelle of all the Popes, they start with St. Peter and move on from there. There is a silly wives tale that says when all the rondelles are full the Second Coming of Christ will happen. A nice story to tell tourists. There are currently about 12 open. They just added more in several locations as they were almost done.

Peter, Linus, Cletus

Benedict XVI, JP II, JP I

The next four pictures are from the Monastic Cloister at the Basilica, it contains a very beautiful Rose Garden. It is still very warm and humid here so the roses are still blooming like crazy all over the City.

Tomorrow marks the 50th Anniversary of Good Pope Blessed John XXIII visiting St. Paul's to announce his intention to convene an Ecumenical Council. When he first mentioned it to the Cardinals they were less than enthusiastic, he recorded his disappointment in his journal!

The above garden is a good lead into my after lunch walk up, yes further up the Janiculum Hill, to the Doria Pamphili Gardens, one of Rome's largest public parks. It was the estate and gardens of the Roman Patrician family called the Pamphili, they gave the Church a Pope. Their crest has a dove holding an olive branch and a star.

Here are a few pictures.