The Basilica Papale di San Lorenzo fuori le mura (Papal Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls) is a Roman Catholic papal minor basilica and parish church, located in Rome, Italy. The Basilica is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome[1] and one of the five "papal basilicas" (former "patriarchal basilicas"), each of which was assigned to the care of a Latin Church patriarchate. The basilica was assigned to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The basilica is the shrine of the tomb of its namesake, Lawrence (sometimes spelt "Laurence"), one of the first seven deacons of Rome who was martyred in 258. Many other saints and Pope Pius IX are also buried at the Basilica, which is the centre of a large and ancient burial complex.
Before the present-day basilica was constructed, the former estate upon which it sits was once home to a small oratory built by Emperor Constantine I. The Emperor built it over the site on which tradition held that Saint Lawrence was buried in 258. The church was restored or rebuilt by Pope Damasus I, who had served there as a deacon.
In the 580s, Pope Pelagius II commissioned the construction of a church over the site in honour of Lawrence. In the 13th century, Pope Honorius III commissioned the construction of another church in front of the older one.[2] Part of the nave and triumphal arch of Honorius's church were incorporated, although not perfectly aligned.
It was adorned with frescos depicting the lives of Lawrence and the first martyred deacon, Stephen, who is interred with Lawrence in the crypt, or confessio, under the high altar. Excavations have revealed several other crypts of various persons, buried below the contemporary street level. Pope Hilarius is also buried here.
El pórtico ( c. 1220 ) tiene decoración cosmatesca de la familia de artesanos Vassalletto . Los frescos del siglo XIII, que fueron reconstruidos, [ se necesita aclaración ] representan escenas de las vidas de Lawrence y Stephen, ambos martirizados, jóvenes diáconos. En el pórtico hay dos sarcófagos antiguos: uno cristiano, posiblemente decorado en el siglo VII sobre un sarcófago más antiguo, tiene un relieve que representa querubines recogiendo uvas. Si bien las vides y las uvas son símbolos de la Sagrada Eucaristía , estas imágenes probablemente no lo sean. Además, desde la antigua entrada se trasladaron aquí dos leones de piedra románicos. [3]
El campanario fue construido en el siglo XII. [3] Inmediatamente dentro de la entrada se encuentra la tumba del cardenal Guglielmo Fieschi , que murió en 1256, pero fue sepultado en un antiguo sarcófago, que por cierto tiene tallado un relieve que representa una fiesta conyugal pagana.