Basilica San Paolo

Some might call it a failed attempt to visit Ostia Antica (the ancient Roman port city), but I like to think of it as a little adventure to see one of Rome's lesser known treasures. St. Paul's Basilica, unlike the famous St. Peter's in the heart of Vatican City, is situated in a remote area of Rome, outside the old city walls where few tourists stumble upon it unless they go there purposefully. It just so happened that my friend Brian and I had heard about St. Paul's Basilica only a few days before that, and there was a stop on the train to Ostia called Basilica San Paolo, so we jumped off and went for it. When in Rome, right?

The area looked a little sketchy at first and we wondered if it had been a good decision to get off the train, but then we rounded the corner and saw the massive church and bell tower, and we knew this was our place. I am astounded that something so massive and beautiful is talked about so little. The inside of the basilica was so beautiful and grand that it's difficult to describe or show the scale in pictures, but the sheer size of the marble columns is enough to make a person feel extremely small. Standing in the middle of the open hall surrounded by portraits of all the popes, with St. Paul himself entombed right under our feet, and only about 10 other people in whole church, I was able to just stand in peace and quite, turn in a circle and just marvel at my surroundings. I think all the time, “I can't believe I am living in Italy,” and that was definitely another one of those moments for me similar to when I was in St. Peter's last month that made me think how awesome it was that I could just come see something so amazing two hours away from Viterbo. Needless to say, we spent so much time at St. Paul's that the gates for Ostia were closing by the time we finally got there, but even missing that I had a fantastic day and got to see something that maybe no one else in our USAC group will go to see. 

"Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report: if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."