Basilica di San Paolo Maggiore
Baroque basilica fronted by two eleven-meter Roman columns from a first-century temple to Castor and Pollux.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Basilica di San Paolo Maggiore in Naples starts by asking why two eleven-meter Roman columns, carved in the first century for a temple to Castor and Pollux, stand slightly askew in front of a Baroque church, tied together by what looks like an afterthought of a stone beam. It follows the centuries after sixteenth and seventeenth century builders left the ancient porch standing and built the church into it, layer over layer, and turns on 1671, when the architect Dionisio Lazzari tied the old columns into a new facade with a brick vault meant to look grand and unified. Stand back at the front steps to take in the full mismatch between ancient stone and Baroque brick before you go inside.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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