What does all that Latin carved around the frieze of St. Paul's in Rome say and mean?

mibmob

Do you mean St Peter's in Rome or St Paul's in London?? If the former it says "Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam"- thou art Peter (rock in LAtin)and upon this rock I will build my church". If the latter it says "Si monumentum require circumspice" - if you are looking for a [my] monument, look around [you]. Apr 26 05, 3:50 AM

peasypod

There is a St Paul's in Rome..... It's called St Paul's Outside the Walls. It was first built by Constantine in 330, and was built on the site of Paul's tomb. Apr 26 05, 6:00 AM

peasypod

Ahhh yes, I thought so. (Was only relying on my memory of when I paid it a visit in about 1997.) This is a very informative site... http://www.exseminarians.com/rome/Churches/stpauloutsidethewalls.htm Apr 26 05, 6:07 AM

lanfranco

In the event that you do mean St. Peter's, just above the columns, across the width of the facade, is inscribed: "In honorem principis apost. Paulus V Borghesius romanus pont.max. an MDCXII, VII." Which more or less means "Pope Paul V Borghese made this inscription to honor his reign, in the 7th year of which, 1612, the construction of the basilica was completed. This is a quite good site on the history of the basilica, which is so complicated that it gave me nightmares before my orals. http://www.italycyberguide.com/Geography/cities/rome2000/D1.htm Apr 26 05, 7:47 AM

gmackematix

When I came back from work I had just about enough time to see this and exclaim "Oh crikey what have I typed now?" (or words to that effect). I had been merely wondering about St Peter's after the papal ceremony on Sunday, but the stuff about St Paul's in Rome was interesting too! Apr 27 05, 12:18 AM