Pilgrimage and its Effects on San Paolo fuori le mura during the Middle Ages

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the history of San Paolo fuori le mura (Saint Paul's Outside the Walls), the basilica in Rome dedicated to St. Paul, and to demonstrate the overall impact that pilgrimage had on the development of the church and its interior ornamentation. Several factors played a key role in this basilica's significance as a pilgrimage destination throughout the Middle Ages. I will argue that the various methods employed by the papacy to promote its own supremacy from the time of Constantine were used purposely to attract pilgrims to the city. Political and economic gains were the incentives for the church's attempts to make Rome into a pilgrimage center.