Basilica di San Paolo Fuori le Mura

Constantine founded a basilica on this site in the 4th century over the traditional burial place of the Apostle Paul, executed in Rome around 65 AD, and the church that grew from it — expanded and lavishly decorated over subsequent centuries — was, until a catastrophic fire in 1823, considered the most magnificent church in Rome, surpassing even the original St. Peter's in the eyes of many medieval and Renaissance visitors.

The 1823 fire, caused by a roofer's negligence, destroyed most of the ancient and medieval structure in a single night, and the basilica had to be almost entirely rebuilt, funded partly through international donations that included contributions from the Russian Tsar, the Egyptian viceroy, and the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire — a genuinely rare instance of Muslim and Orthodox rulers contributing to the reconstruction of a major Catholic church, reflecting Paul's significance across faith and diplomatic lines even in the 19th century.