Porta San Paolo and the Pyramid of Cestius are located in one of the best-preserved areas of the Aurelian Walls. The current name was given to this gate in the Middle Ages, due to its proximity to the Basilica of San Paolo, reachable by a devotional route along the Via Ostiense, which started its journey toward the sea right from here.
Today Porta San Paolo houses the Museum of the Via Ostiense at Porta San Paolo, which preserves materials from the territory between Rome and Ostia. Notable are three arcosolia – a type of burial found in the catacombs -, paintings from a 3rd-century AD tomb discovered near the Basilica of St. Paul, numerous casts of inscriptions and funerary cippi. In addition, two important models are displayed, representing ancient Ostia and the complex of the imperial ports of Claudius and Trajan. In the eastern tower, there are remains of frescoes dating from the late 13th to the early 14th century, decorations of a chapel of the Byzantine community.
