St. Paul’s Within the Walls - Via Nazionale, Rome - Striped Stone beneath the Bell Tower

The red-brick and travertine façade of St. Paul’s Within the Walls rises along Via Nazionale, crowned by its distinctive Romanesque-Gothic bell tower.

St. Paul’s Within the Walls rises prominently along Via Nazionale in central Rome, distinguished by alternating bands of red brick and pale travertine and its tall, richly patterned bell tower. The striking Romanesque-Gothic exterior makes the church immediately recognizable among the predominantly Renaissance, Baroque and 19th-century buildings of the surrounding city. Known in Italian as San Paolo dentro le Mura or San Paolo entro le Mura, it is an American Episcopal church designed by English architect George Edmund Street for Reverend Robert J. Nevin. Its foundation stone was laid on 25 January 1873, and the church became the first non-Catholic place of worship constructed within Rome after Italian unification and the end of papal temporal rule. The building is also an important example in Italy of the English Arts and Crafts movement. Around the rose window and entrance are mosaics by American artist George Breck, while the interior contains stained glass by Clayton & Bell and celebrated apse and choir mosaics designed by Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones.