Overview of the Church The Roman church in the Middle Ages had a special, slightly cold, serious and solemn beauty which was drawn from the classical architecture. They adopted the structure of the first churches and monasteries in Byzantine period, reassembled the hall, back hall, altar and the Arc de Triomphe in the hall, gave them a new order and created a new model. Churches are generally located on a rectangular foundation, and the internal space is divided by a long row of magnificent columns. If you are used to seeing the splendid and exquisite baroque churches and want to appreciate the elegance of medieval churches, go to St. Paul's Cathedral outside the city. Although it was rebuilt in the embers of the original church at the beginning of this century, it is a faithful copy of the original church and completely maintains the characteristics of Constantine church in ancient Rome. St Paul's Cathedral is located in a clearing two kilometers away from Liujing City in Aureli. When it was first built, it was surrounded by a vast field, so it was called "Sao Paulo outside the city". In the 4th century A.D., Constantine the Great built this church on the tomb where the missionary Saint Paul is said to be the main martyr. There are three silent monasteries near the cemetery. Legend has it that after Sao Paulo was beheaded by pagans, his head bounced three times when he landed, and suddenly three clear springs poured out of the ground. The monastery was built by the spring. In 395, when the Roman Emperor honorio was in power, the church was expanded. Since then, the Vatican's St. Peter's Cathedral was completed in the16th century, and the outside of St. Paul's Cathedral has always been the largest church in Rome. From13rd century to 15th century, the church was renovated and beautified again and again, and many artists left their achievements here. Here, precious mosaics, murals and reliefs are concentrated, enjoying the reputation of art treasure house. 1823,15 met with a fire on July 5, due to renovation. In just a few hours, the flame almost completely swallowed up this splendid and rare ancient Roman church, and all other parts were burned except the main entrance, the Arc de Triomphe, the ear-crossing hall and the courtyard garden. The French writer Stendhal was in Rome at that time. In his book A Walk in Rome, he described this irreparable tragedy: "The day after the fire, I went to Sao Paulo. It left me with a solemn and beautiful aesthetic feeling, just like the music from a cup of tea. The traces left by the disaster to Bok are still so vividly displayed there. The church is full of semi-coke sandalwood beams braving smoke, and the huge round stone pillars that have been split and broken seem to be in danger of falling down at any time. The shocked Romans came here to pray and saw their church burned down. Although faced with the huge losses suffered by this precious cultural heritage, Stendhal's exclamation that "destruction is also a kind of beauty" is superficial; But his description left a real scene after the fire for future generations. After a long period of brewing, the Holy See decided to rebuild St. Paul's Cathedral, and said that it would rebuild it according to the structure and scale of the original church as much as possible on the basis of all the writing and painting materials. In view of the huge demand for this project, the Vatican has to send an invitation to raise funds to the whole world; The plan was immediately supported by many countries. In addition to providing a lot of money and manpower, many heads of state also donated precious building materials for this purpose. The Governor of Egypt presented alabaster columns and panels, and Russian Tsar Nicholas I presented a large amount of malachite, which was later carved into an altar in the hall. The construction took a whole century, and its completion was marked by the completion of 100 marble columns in the main hall. The rebuilt St. Paul's Cathedral is grand and solemn, faithfully reappearing the old style of the church, but there always seems to be a kind of unclear fog around it, perhaps because it is located outside the city, perhaps it is not as old and luxurious as other churches, and there are many unclear reasons. Except for devout pilgrims, tourists don't seem to like this phoenix flying out of the embers. When you arrive at St. Paul's Cathedral, even if you don't know its history, you can't help but feel awe of it. The square porch courtyard in front of it was not available in the original church. There are green grass here, and several huge tropical palm trees cast their quiet shadows on the lawn. The tall columns around the courtyard look solemn. You walk slowly in it, raise your hand and touch the round and smooth marble, and a biting cold will invade your body through your palm. You can't help shivering and quickly drop your hands. You can't explain why there is such an atmosphere here. The columns that stand proudly seem to feel sorry for themselves and refuse people's love and help. It is also the sun of the Mediterranean, with lush grass and shrubs, but it is different from other churches. Tall and beautiful tropical palms always bring vitality and warmth, but they are particularly lonely in this yard. In the center of the courtyard stands a statue of St. Paul with a serious face, holding a sword in one hand and a farewell letter to all believers in the other: "I have experienced hardships in my life, and I have stuck to my faith." "Now that the journey of life is over, I am ready to devote myself to the cause of the Lord." Maybe you can understand the sad atmosphere of the church from these words. Looking up, I saw a large mosaic collectively created by Vatican mosaic artists, which shone brightly in the direct sunlight and looked magnificent and luxurious, but the light blue tone contrasted with the surrounding white marble, which was even more extraordinary. Maybe this is an artificial cool color, trying to attract people into the pure world? As soon as you enter the church hall, you will suddenly feel confused and helpless. In a huge space, 100 towering columns solemnly hold up a semicircular arch, and the flowers and leaves engraved with capital letters are dazzling. You can't help but have an illusion. Is this a well-preserved and miraculous medieval cathedral? Along the smooth marble floor, you walk straight ahead with your head held high, as if to meet a kind of strength and hope. Behind him, lonely footsteps echoed in the empty hall. Soft light comes in from the high arched window, and you will suddenly be attracted by the beautiful wavy lines on the window glass, and you will find that the calcareous alabaster embedded in the window frame is extremely thin and polished smoothly and evenly. So you watched one by one and walked around the hall. The yellow transparent bottom is covered with lines of orange, light green, gray and snowy white, winding and graceful, as deep as dark clouds and as shallow as smoke, but there is no repetition. Stop your feet and you will understand why the light here is so soft and hazy. At the end of the Pope's altar hall is the Pope's altar. No one has the right to hold mass here except the Pope. Above the altar is a gorgeous canopy made in13rd century. Thanks to the protection of the Arc de Triomphe above, it was not destroyed in the fire. The altar is located on the tomb of St. Paul. If you are a conscientious person, when you walk along the main hall, you will find a small round frame on the wall of a big cylinder, and each frame has a mosaic portrait of the Pope. To tell the truth, few people read, let alone tell the stories of popes, except those who specialize in Catholic history. The colonnade garden goes out from the door on the right side of the main hall, and you come to the colonnade garden of St. Paul's Cathedral, which is a precious part that was not burned in the fire of 1823. Exquisite and elegant, it is more warm and beautiful than the quiet courtyard and empty hall in front of the church. The colonnade garden, built in the13rd century, is the masterpiece of Vassal duo and the most typical combination of architecture and decoration in the13rd century. The gallery belongs to the Arabic Kos Martes style, and its structure is like this: exquisite and beautiful double-row small columns support the elegant vault, and the columns are smooth, double-row and twisted, and some columns are completely inlaid with colored marble. There are many relief fragments and incomplete sculptures in this cloister, all of which are antiques rescued from the fire. Perhaps it is the exoticism of the gallery, perhaps because it is small and exquisite, and it is actually the warmest and most human place in the whole cathedral. There are several coins lying quietly at the bottom of the shallow basin fountain in the center of the garden. From time to time, people bend down and hold holy water to wet their foreheads, then cross their faces and leave happily. Roses of various colors are planted around the lawn. Several pale yellow ones are dying, and the petals fall on the black soil, which looks very peaceful. Around them, clusters of crimson flowers are in full bloom. The small red light in the confession hall of St. Paul's Cathedral, the soul of confession, is lit up, just like a few faint stars in the boundless sky in this huge space. An old woman knelt in front of the dark cherry wood carving house, put her hands on her chest and looked lonely. You look at her wrinkled face and shopping bags around her, and guess that her confession may just be a way to seek relief, because there are people in the pavilion who are patiently listening to her, comforting her as always, and repeatedly saying that they will never abandon her. How important comfort and attention are to everyone, especially at the last stop of life, many people will appear helpless and lonely. You turn to the huge mosaic in the back hall again. The god above has a pair of kind eyes. He looks at you, at the straight pillars that extend under his feet, and at the doors that open to the outside. He wanted to stop talking, as if mysterious words were always condensed on his smiling lips. He knows that everyone who comes in can understand the meaning of that sentence as long as he looks into his eyes.