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Rome of Peter and Paul · Stop 11 · Day 3
St Paul Outside the Walls
In the Bible
Paul writes: the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
2 Tim 4:6–8
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.Tradition
By tradition, Paul was buried here on the road to Ostia, and Constantine built a church over the grave. Excavations in 2006 uncovered a sarcophagus under a slab inscribed PAULO APOSTOLO MART.
Here today
The basilica rebuilt after the fire of 1823, with mosaic portraits of the popes; the sarcophagus can be seen through a grille under the altar.
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Land outlines: Natural Earth (public domain).