Indice dei fascicoli

Abstract: The fire of St. Paul's outside the walls. The account by contemporaries   The fire of the basilica of St. Paul’s on the via Ostiense, which broke out during the night between July 15 and 16, 1823, has provided the starting point for a study of the event, reconstructed through the reports and the different recollections of contemporaries. This study focused both on the violent psychological impact on the community and the collective perception of the disaster as well as on the moral obligation assumed by the ecclesiastical authorities and by the entire Catholic world to rebuild the religious centre. This reconstruction effort led to the largest building site in the Papal State during the nineteenth century. The different restoration theories prevalent at the time — an age of transition between Neoclassicism and Purism — soon became a matter of contention in the complete restoration work of the Pauline sanctuary. Most importantly, the restoration represented a political-ideological symbol of the Roman Church’s desire for vindication against its enemies during the years of the Restoration.