For another thousand years of splendour

"The Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls - Jubilee 2025": is the theme of the Agreement between the Governorate of Vatican City State and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation of Azerbaijan, which will be signed on Wednesday morning, 11 September, in the Palace of the Governorate, by Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Governorate, and Anar Alakbarov, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and executive Director.

Cardinal James Michael Harvey, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saintt Paul Outside the Walls, Sr. Raffaella Petrini, General Secretary of the Governorate, Mr Ilgar Yusif oğlu Mukhtarov, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Holy See and Mr Salvatore Farina, Director of the Directorate of Infrastructures and Services, will participate in the signing ceremony.

The project is funded by the Foundation for the safety and preservation of the marble cladding and decorative apparatuses of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, in preparation for the upcoming Jubilee. The intervention was necessary to ensure the public’s safe transit and passage into the Basilica, as structural movements and widespread rise in water have degraded the marble cladding of the walls and of the columns of the naves.

During the restoration works, the marble surfaces that decorate the aisles and transept of the Basilica will be covered for protection.