When in Rome ... visit San Paolo!
Travel 'insider', a city dweller
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FEB
1
2008
San Paolo fuori le Mura - Rome, Italy —
Most everyone who comes to Rome wants to see Saint Peter's Cathedral at The Vatican. Take a bus or taxi or subway and walk across St. Peter's Square, designed by the famous Baroque sculptor Bernini, and then explore the Cathedral for as long as you like - along with hundreds of other tourists at the same time. Ugh. Not exactly an ideal situation for meditation and contemplation!But here is a sacred place you can go in Rome to commune with architectural majesty (and the 88 granite columns) and the silence of centuries.
Take a bus or a taxi or a metro to San Paolo fuori le Mura. It's a cathedral and also a 'quartiere' (quarter). Ask directions of a native (say "San Paolo" and shrug your shoulders with your hands palms up - the universal "I can't find it" gesture) to the Cathedral of San Paolo which is only a couple of blocks from the subway stop.
As you arrive you will see a fabulous gold mosaic facade reflecting the sunlight, a gigantic sculpture of Saint Paul and a formal garden surrounded by white columns.
Visit the cathedral, the alter, the nave, the gift shops and especially the beautiful cloister garden with it's ancient Roman tomb remains and other pagan art.
Explore and find the "Relics Treasure Room". Relics, like the finger bone of a saint, were important to ancient churches because Pilgrims would travel from far and wide to visit a church blessed with a valuable relic and the Pilgrims would often donate a lot of money to that church or cathedral, making it richer and more powerful.
Go to the bathroom! I don't want you to actually go to the bathroom unless you have to. I want you to see the outdoor corridor the bathrooms are located in. Facing the cathedral the corridor is to your right. You can get into it from the front of the cathedral or the back, inside the gift shop.
It is a cool, shaded and usually very quiet and peaceful place to sit on a fallen column top and eat the panino you brought with you or read a few chapters of a book and rest your feet or just sit and contemplate the history you are immersed in.
To the far right of the cathedral there is also an outdoor cafe where you can sit for hours under a tree with a cappuccino.
Last edited on Feb 01, 2008
San Paolo fuori le Mura - Rome, Italy is recommended by Lisisme
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