Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls

Another ancient church, founded by Constantine I. The church was built over the burial place of St. Paul, the Roman citizen who became the most prominent early convert of Christianity.

Ceilings in the Basilicas are carved wood. This one actually caught fire in 1823, so much of St. Paul's Basilica is now the reconstructed version.

It was very quiet here. This church is located outside the walls of Rome, thus its name. We were the only visitors this afternoon - a very different setting from St. Peter's.

Each church we saw had a different history, personality and purpose. For this reason, I enjoyed them in different ways, for different reasons.

In this one you could walk right up under the altar area and descend toward an opening that viewed a portion of the excavated tomb. I could kick myself for not going down there. I guess I wasn't thinking straight.

This Basilica has little paintings around its ceilings, of each Pope and his years of service. There are only 23 spots left empty. The concern is that, once all the empty spots are filled, what will happen to the church or to Rome then? Will it dissolve?