Home   The Basilica   Saint Paul   Pauline Year   Timetable   Calendar   Contacts
 The Basilica
 Historical Overview
 The Tomb of the Apostle

 The Constantine Building

 From the 5th to the 8th Century

From the 9th to the 11th Century

 The Golden Age of the Basilica

The Jubilees
 The Fire in July 1823

 The External Area of the Basilica

 The Present Territorial Complex 

 The Archpriest Cardinal
 The Benedictine Abbey
 Exhibits
 
  Photogallery

 




  THE BASILICA

 THE FIRE ON THE NIGHT BETWEEN THE 15TH AND 16TH OF JULY 1823
 

In only one night, the Basilica was destroyed by fire.

A significant appeal was launched by Pope Leo XII to all the faithful[1]: the Basilica had to be rebuilt in an identical way, re-using the elements preserved from the fire, in such a manner that the Christian tradition could be maintained as it had been since its origins.

Parts were moved, restored, demolished, and reconstructed[2]. Not only did a multitude of Catholics respond to the appeal, but gifts arrived from all over the world. For example, blocks of malachite and lapis lazuli were donated by Tsar Nicholas I. These were going to be used for the construction of the two sumptuous lateral altars of the transept. King Fouad I of Egypt gave columns and windows of very fine alabaster as a gift, while the vice-king of Egypt, Mohamed Ali contributed by offering columns made of alabaster. Thus, it became the Church of Rome’s most important construction site of the 19th century.

On December 10, 1854, Pope Pius IX (1846-1876) consecrated the “new” Basilica in the presence of a great number of Cardinals and Bishops, gathered in Rome from all over the world for the proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception[3].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


1) Letter Ad plurimas pasque gravissimas of 25 January 1825.
2) Architects like Valadier, then Belli and afterwards Luigi Poletti directed the work until 1869.
3) A long list of all their names is engraved along the walls of the apse.

 
 

© 2007 Basilica Papale San Paolo fuori le mura