Civitella San Paolo. Church of San Lorenzo

The church of San Lorenzo (and Santa Maria del Soccorso) is the oldest in Civitella San Paolo.

It had been built on the ruins, and with the materials, of a Roman villa.

The church dates back to the X-XI century and originally consisted of a single room with an apse covered with a gabled roof.

San Lorenzo was then completely rebuilt in 1693 under Pope Innocent XII with the construction of a new main chapel, covered by an elliptical dome.

The early medieval church became a transept of the new church.

The interior of the church was enriched with three chapels in the Baroque style: the San Lorenzo Chapel, San Filippo Neri and Santa Maria del Soccorso.

Attached to the church there is a small chapel, once used as a caretaker's cottage and guest house for pilgrims inside.

Here, a section of the wall of the Roman villa is recognizable.

The building became the church cemetery in 1868.