Santa Maria Scala Coeli church on the site of St Paul the Apostle

Paul of Tarsus

Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...

's prison, on Via delle Tre Fontane in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

.

The present church was built by Giacomo della Porta

Giacomo della Porta

Giacomo della Porta was an Italian architect and sculptor, who worked on many important buildings in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica. He was born at Porlezza, Lombardy and died in Rome.-Biography:...

 on top of an earlier one. On the stairs leading to it can be seen writing and drawings scratched into the stone, probably information from the architect to the builders. The church contains a mosaic by Francesco Zucca.

An old tradition claims that 10,000 Christian slaves who died while building the Baths of Diocletian

Baths of Diocletian

The Baths of Diocletian in Rome were the grandest of the public baths, or thermae built by successive emperors. Diocletian's Baths, dedicated in 306, were the largest and most sumptuous of the imperial baths. The baths were built between the years 298 AD and 306 AD...

 are buried in the church's crypt, and are venerated as St Zeno and Companions. Some dead slaves from this project are likely buried in catacombs in the nearby hillside, though the 10,000 figure must be exaggerated.

The church belongs to the Trappist

TRAPPIST

TRAPPIST is Belgian robotic telescope in Chile which came online in 2010, and is an acronym for TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope, so named in homage to Trappist beer produced in the Belgian region. Situated high in the Chilean mountains at La Silla Observatory, it is actually...

 monastery San Paolo alle Tre Fontane

San Paolo alle Tre Fontane

San Paolo alle Tre Fontane , in English, St Paul at the Three Fountains is a church dedicated to St Paul the Apostle, at the presumed site of his martyrdom in Rome...

. It was already used by the Romanian Orthodox community in Rome before November 2002 when, to mark the visit to Rome of Teoctist

Teoctist Arapasu

Teoctist was the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church from 1986 to 2007.Teoctist served his first years as patriarch under the Romanian Communist regime, and was accused by some of collaboration...

, Patriarch of Romania, Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

 officially granted it to them. Previously, they had also gathered in the Chapel of Our Lady of Genezano off Via Cavour

Via Cavour, Rome

Via Cavour is a street in the Castro Pretorio rione of Rome, named after Camillo Cavour. It is served by the Rome Metro stations Cavour and Termini. The facade of the original permanent Roma Termini railway station reached this street, though it is now 200 metres farther back...

, but that chapel had become too small.