St. Peter's Basilica - A Vatican Highlight When In Rome

By Jill Kammer

On your trip to Rome, to assure that you see one of the most popular tourist sites, be sure to visit the Basilica di San Pietro which is more commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica. But when laying out your schedule, understand that you can easily spend an entire day at St. Peter's and will want to come back to see more of one of the most famous and popular tourist stops in Vatican City.

The heart of the appeal of the site is the legend that Saint Peter himself was buried there even though there is no real proof of that idea. What we do know is that the basilica is located on the spot that was probably the Circus of Nero during the first century AD.

The site was selected for a basilica when Constantine, the Christian Emperor of Rome ordered one built there in the fourth century. That first building was constructed a thousand years before St. Peter's was located there.

But it was in the 16th century that Pope Leo X got the vision for what St. Peter's could be. He also knew how to divert funding to the effort by calling on zealous Christians to fund the crusades against the Turks and then quietly moved those funds to the building of this beautiful structure.

As was true about huge construction projects in ancient times, it took many generations, many Popes and many architects over the decades before the basilica was completed late in the sixteenth century.

Compared to other Roman buildings of that time, St. Peter's is very tall - standing an impressive 445 feet from the floor of the basilica to the beautiful cross at the top of that world famous dome. That dome is a beloved part of the skyline of Rome and it is a wonder of architecture in every respect. It was designed by probably the most well known Renaissance artist who served as chief architect on the project, Michelangelo. He developed and used a double shell design that he borrowed from a fellow architect of the time, San Gallo.

In 1546 Michelangelo took over as chief architect of St. Peter's but he was not able to finish the job before his death. One of his students - Giacomo della Porta - was selected to take his master's vision to completion. That design is so well known and admired that it has been used in many famous structures around the world, including the design of the Capital Building in the city of Washington DC.

That dome was a durable design and it was 200 years later that the first cracks showed up in the surface. To contain these cracks from doing any more damage, four huge chains of iron were attached to the inside of the shell. If you were to climb the winding stairs between the dome shells, you would still see those chains today.

That magnificent dome is not all there is to St. Peter's Basilica. The interior space of the basilica covers six acres and it can accommodate 60,000 worshipers. And there have been several occasions where it was called upon to host that many people. The many Popes who have used St. Peter's to minister to the church have drawn in such crowds.

The outer facade of the basilica is large as well, standing at 148 feet high and 377 feet wide and there are many statues gracing the outside of the building as well.

The basilica also hosts over 100 tombs of well known figures from history. You can feel history around you including the tomb of Queen Christina of Sweden. History tells us that she gave up her royal crown in 1654 so she could come to Rome and become a convert to Catholicism.

But there is no doubt that the most well known art work in St. Peter's is the awe inspiring "Pieta" by Michelangelo. But sadly it must be displayed behind protective glass because a lunatic tried to destroy it with an axe in 1972.

From the exterior of the basilica, there are a number of worthwhile historical things to look for.

For example, be on the look out for a number of ancient clocks including one with a bell that dates back to the late 13th century. But an artwork that is hard to miss is a huge Egyptian obelisk on display outside St. Peter's that dates back to Nero's Circus where it stood not far away during the same time period.

Look for the two fountains in the square of the basilica. The southern fountain was designed by the famous artist Bernini in 1675. Bernini made several contributions including the phenomenal Triumph of the Chair of Saint Peter which stands in the apse section of the basilica.

Your visit to Rome will take on new meaning if you allow at least a couple of hours to take your time and admire this awe inspiring example of Renaissance architecture in the Eternal City.

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