Pope Paul VI enters the crossing of the basilica at the beginning of the papal audience.

The liturgical center is marked by the altar/table barely raised above floor level on the right with a pulpit hanging from the wall on the left. The curved structure behind it leads to a door to the outdoor pulpit for mass ...

Saint Seryatius was an Armenian missionary who died in Maastrict c. 384. His remains are enclosed in the altar.

Photos were not allowed in the Pauline chapel which is the pope's private chapel. Through the influence of the Ladies of Bethanie and the ecumenical euphoria of Vatican II, together with the pope's recent visit to Geneva ...

The privileged participants are seated in the crossing surrounding the high altar.

Side view shot of altar and nave in Sant' Apollinare.

Progression in the veneration of martyrs now begins to bring the remains of the martyr from a catacomb beneath the high altar into the church itself. Here we see the very early form of the altar/table with four stone legs ...

The synthronon is the semi-circular raised seating in the apse. The highest ranking ecclesiastic was of course the bishop who sat and preached from his throne. Beneath him were the elders, the deacons, the acolytes, and ...

Again, the imperial iconography is clear, for even as the Caesar sat in his basilica to deliver the law, and even as every business and governmental transaction to be legal had to take place in a basilica before a ...

The context of this imperial iconography in San Paolo shows forth glory and grandeur as the architecture overwhelms. Long shot facing West through the ciborium over the high altar and grave of Saint Paul.