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St. Peter's Basilica - A Vatican City Must-See When In Rome

by: JillKammer
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Any tourist to Rome will tell you that the attraction formerly known as Basilica di San Pietro and now called St. Peter's Basilica stands out as one of the best. In fact, there is so much to see at St. Peter's, you could spend an entire day here and still want to come back again. Of the many buildings in Vatican City, St. Peter's is one of the most popular and most frequently visited by tourists to Rome.

The popular lore says that Saint Peter is actually buried here but that legend is not backed up by evidence. The real history of the location of St. Peter's is that it probably sits on the original Circus of Nero from the first century.

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.

Hundreds of years later construction started on St. Peter's Basilica using funds diverted from the holy war with the Turks by Pope Leo X.

But like most large scale construction efforts during this phase in history, it took decades to finish the church in the late 16th century and the project had many architects and was overseen by several Popes before it was done.

St. Peter's is a tall building even by sixteenth century standards. From the floor to the very tip of the cross on that famous dome above, the basilica towers 445 feet in the air. That dome is a revered part of the Roman skyline and it is an amazing architectural design all by itself. None other than Michelangelo himself designed the great dome and that famous Renaissance artist employed a double-shell design technique that was created by San Gallo.

While Michelangelo become the lead designer of the building in 1546, he never saw it completed before his death. It was another architect, Giacomo della Porta who saw the project through to completion in 1590. That design is so well known and admired by architects that has been copied frequently in famous buildings around the world including the United States Capital Building in Washington.

That dome was so well designed that two centuries passed before stress cracks were found. To correct the problem, four very large chains of iron were attached inside the dome to the pair of shells. If you were to climb the spiral stairs that are still there between the dome shells, you would still see those chains in place.

As wonderful as it is to admire the magnificent dome at St. Peter's, there is so much more to see here. The building itself is so large it covers close to six acres and at full capacity it can seat 60,000 people. And over the centuries, many Popes have packed the basilica out for special ceremonies or when they held mass at this revered site.

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.

When you step outside of the basilica you can find quite a few famous historical works of art that are visible around the building.

If you look, you can find several very old clocks including one with a bell that goes back all the way to the thirteenth century. You also won't have to look too hard to find the large Egyptian obelisk that adorns the grounds that was brought here from where it originally stood outside of Nero's Circus in the 13th century.

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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St. Peter's Basilica - A Vatican City Must-See When In Rome

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