This still active Trappist monastery is located far outside the walls to the south of the city near EUR. It was built up in the early middle ages around the traditional site of the beheading of St. Paul the apostle in 67 AD. The large entry gate and wall circuit (1) enclose the building complex which consists of three churches and a monastic building (5). The oldest surviving structure is the church of SS. Vincenzo and Anastasia (2) was founded in 625 and rebuilt in 1221. The middle church (3) contained the three fountains which sprang up miraculously, one at each point where St. Paul's head bounced after decapitation. In 1599 the 5th century church was entirely rebuilt by Della Porta with an altar for each fountain. Today the water no longer flows. Della Porta also designed the octagonal S. Maria Scala Coeli (4), built in 1583. In this view Vasi has somewhat changed the relative position of the three churches for better viewing.
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