St. Paul's Within the Walls

St. Paul's Within the Walls, or San Paolo entro le Mura, was named after the apostle Paul, and was the first non-Catholic church built within the walls of Rome.  Its name distinguishes it from the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls church, also in Rome.  It is an Episcopal Church.  The church is on Via Nazionale at 16a, 00184 in Rome.  It is located very near the Rome Opera House.  The closest metro stop is the Repubblica metro stop.  

location of St. Paul's Within the Walls

St. Paul's Within the Walls offers worship services on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.  We attended the church for an opera performanace in March of 2025.  Their official website is here:  St Paul's Within the Walls  The church is open from Monday to Friday, 10 am to 4 pm.  

You can purchase tickets to attend an opera performance inside this church here:  Virtuosi Dell 'Opera Di Roma  We attended a performance of La Traviata at St. Paul's Within the Walls.  The basic plot of La Traviata is as follows:  Violetta meets Alfredo at a party and gives him a camellia, telling him to return it when it has withered.  This is to test his love for her, hinting that she wants him to return the next day because camellias don't last for long.  Violetta and Alfredo live together in the country for three months.  Alfredo leaves for Paris to get money.  Alfredo's father demands that Violetta leave Alfredo because he fears she will ruin the family name, and Violetta agrees to leave forever.  Alfredo returns and publicly humiliates Violetta because he believes she chose to leave him.  Violetta collapses from shock and grief, but she is also ill with tuberculosis.  Alfredo returns to Paris and begs Violetta for forgiveness.  Violetta and Alfredo are reunited, but she dies in his arms.  The opera was written by Giuseppe Verdi in 1853.  This Italian opera is performed all over the world.  It is based on the life of real-life Italian courtesan Marie Duplessis who died of tuberculosis at the age of 23.  It is adapted from the novel "La Dame aux camelias" by Alexandre Dumas.  

 

The Repubblica Metro Stop is closest to the St. Paul's Within the Walls church

The Piazza della Repubblica in Rome

doors to enter the St. Paul's Within the Walls church for the concert

The interior of St. Paul's Within the Walls

My daughter and I inside the church

The performance of La Traviata, a standing ovation from the audience

Beautiful stained glass windows

My daughter at the gated entrance to the church