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Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls historical timeline

Last updated on October 4, 2026

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A grave, a memorial over it, four rebuildings, a fortified town, two earthquakes and a fire that took everything but the furniture.

Chronology

1st century — after the apostle's execution, his followers are said to have erected a memorial, a cella memoriae, over the burial place of Paul of Tarsus. Structural impact: a marked grave outside the walls. What you see today: the reason the church is where it is rather than in the city.
324 — Constantine the Great founds a basilica over the burial place, and this first church is consecrated by Pope Sylvester. Turismo Roma gives the same year and attributes both the transformation and the consecration to tradition. Structural impact: the memorial becomes a church. What you see today: nothing of it.
385–402 — a far larger basilica is built, and the sources differ on it. Turismo Roma: begun 385, ended 395 under Honorius. The reference work: begun by Theodosius I in 386, with a nave and four aisles and a transept, probably consecrated around 402 by Pope Innocent I, the work including the mosaics not completed until Leo I's pontificate (440–461). Structural impact: the five-aisled plan the church still has. What you see today: the footprint, rebuilt.
5th century — the basilica is larger than Old Saint Peter's. Prudentius, seeing it under Honorius (395–423), describes its splendours. Structural impact: none. What you see today: the only period in which this was the biggest church in Rome.
440–461 — under Leo I, after the roof collapses through fire or lightning, the transept is elevated and a new main altar and presbytery installed — probably the first time an altar was placed over the tomb of Saint Paul, which remained untouched but largely underground given the new floor levels. Structural impact: the tomb is covered for the first time. What you see today: the reason the tomb is below you, not in front of you.
590–604 — under Gregory the Great, the transept pavement is raised again and a new altar placed above Leo's, directly over Saint Paul's sarcophagus. Structural impact: the floor rises a second time. What you see today: the sunken confessio, which is the hole cut back down to what two popes covered.
29 April 801 — an earthquake damages the basilica and the roof collapses; it is rebuilt by Leo III. Structural impact: a third roof. What you see today: nothing, but the pattern — this building keeps losing its roof.
9th century — lying outside the Aurelian Walls, the basilica is damaged during a Saracen raid. Pope John VIII (872–882) consequently fortifies the basilica, the monastery and the dwellings of the peasantry, forming the town of Johannispolis. Structural impact: a walled town grows around the church. What you see today: the open ground where it stood.
11th century — Pantaleone, a rich Amalfi merchant living in Constantinople, presents the bronze doors, executed by Constantinopolitan artists and inscribed with his prayer that the doors of life may be opened to him. Structural impact: a Byzantine object in a Roman basilica. What you see today: the doors, and one merchant's bargain with eternity.
1170 — Nicola D'Angelo and Pietro Vassalletto make the marble paschal candlestick. Structural impact: none. What you see today: it, to the right of the altar — one of the few things the fire did not take.
1198–1216 and after — the apse mosaic is commissioned by Innocent III and finished in the time of Honorius III. Structural impact: none. What you see today: the gold at the far end.
13th century — Jacopo and Pietro Vassalletto build the cloister. Structural impact: a separate, intricate building beside a vast plain one. What you see today: the best surviving thing on the site.
1285 — Arnolfo di Cambio makes the Gothic ciborium over the high altar. Structural impact: a pointed marble canopy over the confessio. What you see today: it, looking several centuries out of place in a 19th-century church — which it is.
1348 — an earthquake totally destroys the town of Johannispolis. Structural impact: the settlement around the basilica ends. What you see today: why the basilica stands on its own.
1823 — a devastating fire. Structural impact: the medieval basilica is lost. What you see today: the dividing line between the objects and the building.
1825–1854 — Turismo Roma credits the present form to Pasquale Belli, working with other architects, rebuilding between 1825 and 1854; the reference work states the present building was completed in 1840. Luigi Poletti makes the facade, the campanile and the north pronaos, the last reusing twelve columns from the nave of the burned church. Structural impact: a new basilica on the old plan. What you see today: nearly all of it.
Late 19th century — Virginio Vespignani designs the quadriporch, with Giuseppe Obici's statue of Saint Paul at its centre. Structural impact: the forecourt. What you see today: the first thing you walk into.
2007 — excavation begins in the south-west zone beside the Abbey garden, lasting about two years and uncovering early medieval remains: a large reception and refectory hall, a portico, columns, a well, a bell tower, and a colonnade that led pilgrims from the Porta di San Paolo to the basilica. Before the dig, the only trace was a tablet from the time of Gregory the Great (590–604) alluding to a female monastic community with an oratory dedicated to Saint Stephen. Structural impact: about a thousand square metres of protected archaeology under a new building. What you see today: the archaeological area, included with the cloister ticket.

Verified against Turismo Roma, October 2026.

External resources

Sources & verification Covers the sourced claims on this page.

Checked against Turismo Roma — Turismo Roma records that the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls is one of the four papal basilicas of Rome and the second largest after Saint Peter's, and that it stands on the place where tradition holds the apostle Paul was buried, where the first Christians raised a funerary chapel later transformed into a basilica by Constantine and consecrated, again by tradition, by Pope Sylvester I in 324, Turismo Roma records that rebuilding of the basilica in larger form began in 385 and ended in 395 under the emperor Honorius — dates that differ from the reference work's account of a rebuild begun by Theodosius I in 386 and incomplete until the pontificate of Leo I, Turismo Roma records that the present form of the basilica is due to Pasquale Belli, who with other architects rebuilt it between 1825 and 1854 after the devastating fire of 1823 — where the reference work states the present building was completed in 1840 (October 2026).
Checked against Wikipedia — The Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls was founded by Constantine the Great over the burial place of Paul of Tarsus, where it was said that after the apostle's execution his followers erected a memorial called a cella memoriae, and this first basilica was consecrated by Pope Sylvester in 324, In 386 the Emperor Theodosius I began erecting a much larger and more beautiful basilica at Saint Paul Outside the Walls, with a nave and four aisles and a transept, probably consecrated around 402 by Pope Innocent I, the work including the mosaics not being completed until the pontificate of Leo I from 440 to 461 — an account that differs from Turismo Roma's dates of 385 to 395, In the 5th century the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls was larger than the Old Saint Peter's Basilica, and the Christian poet Prudentius, who saw it in the time of the emperor Honorius between 395 and 423, describes the splendours of the monument in a few expressive lines, Under Leo I extensive repairs followed the collapse of the roof of Saint Paul Outside the Walls through fire or lightning: the transept around Paul's tomb was elevated and a new main altar and presbytery installed, probably the first time an altar was placed over the tomb of Saint Paul, which remained untouched but largely underground given the newly elevated floor levels, Under Pope Gregory the Great, from 590 to 604, the main altar and presbytery of Saint Paul Outside the Walls were extensively modified: the pavement in the transept was raised and a new altar placed above the earlier altar of Leo I, directly over Saint Paul's sarcophagus, The Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls was damaged in an earthquake on 29 April 801 and its roof collapsed, but was rebuilt by Leo III, Lying outside the Aurelian Walls, Saint Paul Outside the Walls was damaged in the 9th century during a Saracen raid, and Pope John VIII, who reigned from 872 to 882, consequently fortified the basilica, the monastery and the dwellings of the peasantry, forming the town of Johannispolis or Giovannipoli, which existed until 1348 when an earthquake totally destroyed it, Pantaleone, a rich merchant of Amalfi who lived in Constantinople, presented the bronze doors of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, executed by Constantinopolitan artists and inscribed with Pantaleone's prayer that the doors of life may be opened to him, The Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls suffered a catastrophic fire in the 19th century and the reference work states that the present building was completed in 1840 — where Turismo Roma gives the rebuilding as running from 1825 to 1854, There were two monasteries near the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Saint Aristus's for men and Saint Stefano's for women, and over time the monasteries and the basilica's clergy declined until Pope Gregory II restored the former and entrusted the monks with the basilica's care (October 2026).
Checked against Basilica Papale di San Paolo fuori le Mura — The basilica records that excavation works begun in 2007 in the south-west zone beside the Abbey garden, lasting about two years, brought to light early medieval archaeological remains, and that the resulting site of about a thousand square metres revealed a large reception and refectory hall, a portico, columns, a well, a bell tower and a colonnade that led pilgrims from the Porta di San Paolo to the basilica, The basilica records that before the excavation the only trace of these remains was a tablet kept at the Abbey dating from the time of Pope Gregory the Great, 590 to 604, alluding to a female monastic community with an oratory dedicated to Saint Stephen (October 2026).

Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls historical timeline

Chronology

External resources

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