St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican

St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City is a sight not to be missed when in Rome. The main temple of the Catholic Church is located in the heart of the Vatican State on the Vatican Hill. The current cathedral building was built in 1506-1626 on the site of an older basilica founded by Emperor Constantine the Great.

St Peter's Basilica, along with the Lateran Cathedral, the Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura and the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is listed among the major basilicas of Rome. It is believed to have been erected over the tomb of the Apostle Peter, so this temple is the goal of all pilgrims arriving in Rome.

Also St Peter's Basilica can be called the necropolis of the popes, some of whom are recognised as saints. Leo the Great, Leo III, Gregory the Great, Pius X, John XXIII, and John Paul II, among others, are buried here.

St Peter's Basilica is also the necropolis of the Popes, some of whom are recognised as saints.

St Peter's Basilica is visited not only by the faithful, whose heart sinks at the proximity to the most precious Christian relics, but also by people who love art. This basilica resembles a treasure trove filled with artistic masterpieces by a number of Renaissance masters, including Michelangelo, Bernini, Canova, etc.

St Peter's Square

To appreciate the grandeur of St Peter's Basilica bathed in sunlight without the crowds of tourists, the central square of the Vatican - Piazza di San Pietro - is best visited at dawn. This place is unique - it is located to the east of the basilica, so the first Christians, approaching the temple, behaved in a pagan way: they turned their backs to the shrine and looked at the rising sun. This fact very upset Pope Leo the Great in 460. Nothing has changed since then: the sun still rises directly in front of the cathedral, gilding the cross above the dome and giving colour to the traditional Roman colours of the walls - ochre and brownish.

The current square got its shape in 1656-1667. It was designed by the architect Bernini, who was invited by Pope Alexander VII. It is believed that the square appeared on the site of a vacant lot, which was located near the old circus of Emperor Nero.

The famous colonnades of St Peter's Square were probably a reference to the galleries of imperial Rome, which provided protection from the scorching sun in summer and strong winds in winter. The colonnades of the square are decorated with 140 statues of famous and not so famous saints. There are also women among them. On the right colonnade there are 25 female and 45 male figures, on the left - only 8 female and the rest male. The most notable are the sculptural images of Saint Thecla, a supporter of the Apostle Paul, and Saint Rose from Lima, who was recognised as a saint shortly before her appearance in the form of a monument on the colonnade.

A greeting from the ancient past in the square is an ancient Egyptian obelisk dating from the 13th century B.C. It was brought to Rome under Caligula in 37 A.D. and was initially installed in the grounds of Nero's circus. It is believed that St Peter was crucified at its foot.

The obelisk rises to a height of 25.5 metres. Its 15.5 metre pedestal makes it even taller. It is the second largest obelisk on the planet that has survived to this day.

The obelisk was dragged to the square for a long and painful time. The plan to move the obelisk was devised by architect Domenico Fontana, which he later described in his book.

For a long time, Romans believed that the ball on the obelisk contained the ashes of Julius Caesar. However, upon inspection, the ball was found to be empty. It was given to the museum anyway, and the obelisk was topped with a crucifix, where they placed a piece of the Holy Cross.

History of the Vatican's main cathedral

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The Vatican Hill, where the main buildings of the Catholic Church are now located, was never considered a prestigious place for Roman nobility to live. It was outside the city walls and was used for clay mining and grape growing. Moreover, the wine from the Vatican Hill is very bitter, and therefore not suitable for the tables of patricians.

Earlier on the Vatican Hill was located pagan temple of Cybele, to which from the Tiber led the road Via Cornelia. Along it, the dead were buried.

Next to the Vatican cemetery was the estate of Agrippina the Elder - the mother of Emperor Caligula. In the gardens of Agrippina was built hippodrome, where Caligula and Nero liked to arrange races. In 65, it was here that Nero carried out the execution of Christians, and 2 years later St Peter was crucified here. The first bishop of Rome was buried on the Vatican Hill, and this place automatically became sacred.

The burial place of St Peter was known throughout Rome. Constantine the Great built the first basilica on the Vatican Hill in the 4th century. The building was erected directly over the tomb of the apostle. Builders of that time was not easy, because the temple was located on a steep hillside.

In the year 800, Charlemagne was crowned in St Peter's Church on Christmas Day. On entering the cathedral, note the rounded porphyry platform. It was there that the future Holy Roman Emperor knelt before Pope Leo III, who conducted the ceremony. The circle has been carefully preserved and installed in the present cathedral.

In the 15th century, the old Basilica of Constantine was deteriorating before our eyes, so its repair was undertaken closely. Pope Nicholas V instructed the restorers to enlarge the church, and Pope Julius II decided to rebuild it into a grandiose cathedral that would amaze any parishioner with its grandeur and size.

Architects of the cathedral

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In the 16th century, a grandiose construction began on the Vatican Hill. In the realisation of the plan of Pope Julius II, all the important and distinguished architects of Rome took part in turn:

Donato Bramante created the design of the future temple, in which he combined elements of the Pantheon with details of the basilica in the Roman Forum;
Raphael Santi, who succeeded Bramante after his death, decided to build the cathedral in the form of a Latin cross;
Baldassare Peruzzi preferred the previous projects to the new one - his cathedral was built in the form of a Greek cross;
Antonio da Sangallo, who led the construction after Raphael and made a new design for the church;
Michelangelo Buonarroti, who was called upon to end the tossing and finally create something decent, and the master succeeded - under him the basilica was practically rebuilt;
Giacomo della Porta, who completed the dome after Michelangelo;
Carlo Moderna, who began work in the following seventeenth century and designed the present façade of the building.

On 18 November 1626, the construction of St Peter's Basilica was completed. The basilica was solemnly consecrated by Pope Urban VIII and opened to parishioners.

The facade of the cathedral

The main facade of St Peter's Cathedral faces the square of the same name. It is 115 metres long. It rises 46 metres above the square.

The construction of the façade was carried out by the architect Carlo Maderna between 1607 and 1612.

Standing on the square and without entering the cathedral, you can understand how wide the central nave of the temple is. For this purpose it is enough to look at the triangular pediment above the columns of the facade. The width of the pediment and the nave coincide.

Pay attention also to the frieze of the main facade of the basilica. It is decorated with an inscription in Latin, which states that the facade was built under the pontiff Paul V Borghese.

The façade of the church is adorned with 13 bronze statues depicting Jesus, John the Baptist and the 11 apostles without St Peter. Tour guides like to tell the story that one day a tourist asked the guide what kind of figures are installed on the facade. He carelessly threw out that they represented the apostles. The tourist objected that there were 13 figures on the façade. To which his wife, wishing to smooth over the conflict, said: "Ah, darling, it's the 12 apostles and Julius Caesar!"

At the level of these statues are 2 dials made in 1785 by Giuseppe Valadier. Below the clock on the left are the bells of the basilica.

Even if you have never been to the Vatican, you are still familiar with the facade of St Peter's Cathedral. Here is the most famous balcony in the world, from which the Pope delivers his message to the City and the World during major Catholic holidays. And these blessings are broadcast all over the world. The balcony can be accessed from the room the pontiff uses for audiences.

The portico and doors to the shrine

There is a portico attached to the nave of St Peter's Basilica, in which you can also find tourist attractions. These are 2 baroque equestrian statues depicting Constantine the Great and Charlemagne. Constantine was sculpted by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, while Charles was sculpted by Agostino Cornacchini.

At the statue of Constantine the Great we recommend to stop to see through the glass doors the famous Scala Regia, i.e. the Royal Staircase by the same Bernini. It leads to the Apostolic Palace, the pontiff's apartments. The staircase was built for Pope Alexander VII in the second half of the XVII century. Tourists are not allowed on the staircase.

From the portico, 5 doors lead inside the basilica, each with its own name:

the first portal on the left is the Gate of Death, which is only opened during the funeral of the pope;.
the portal of Good and Evil, dating from the second half of the 20th century;
the main entrance - Filaret's door - remembers the time of Constantine the Great (it is a surviving detail of the first cathedral on the Vatican Hill);
the portal of the Sacraments, accessible to tourists;
the rightmost Holy Gates, which are opened personally by the Pope in the Jubilee Year (which occurs every 25 years).

Masterpieces of the cathedral

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The interior decoration of St Peter's Cathedral amazes even trained tourists, what to say about casual travellers who just came to gawk, knowing nothing about the craftsmen who worked on the decoration of the three aisles, nor about the history of the temple.

In principle, every detail in the decoration of the cathedral is worthy of attention, but if you do not have much time to see it, we list the most important masterpieces that should not be missed during the tour:

on the left in the first chapel you should see the baptistery, the font in which is made from the upper part of the tomb of Emperor Otto II;
then comes the Stuart tomb - here there is a statue representing the wife of the last king of the Stuart family;
continue down the left aisle where there is the Caro Chapel, closed to the public but famous for containing the relics of St John Chrysostom - you can see the chapel through the grille;.
in the aisle of the left aisle, a statue dedicated to Pope Leo XI, under whom the Protestant Henry of Navarre became Catholic and king of France;
is noteworthy.
passing the monument to Leo XI, on the pillar supporting the dome, you see a mosaic - a copy of Raphael's painting "The Transfiguration";
turn from the mosaic to the left and in the corner look at another sculpture, which depicts Pope Pius VII - it is notable for the fact that it was created by the Protestant Thorvaldsen (remember that you are in a Catholic church);.
the altar of Pope Gregory the Great, erected over his relics;
an open chapel in the left transept, marking the place where St Peter probably died (the tombstone of the pontiff Alexander VII by Bernini is placed there);
the apse of the cathedral with the wooden pulpit of St Peter;
in the far right corner is the Chapel of the Archangel Michael, where you can see the best mosaic of the basilica, "The Burial of St Petronilla";
there is also a copy of a painting by Guido Reni dedicated to the Archangel Michael;
the statues of lions on the tombstone of Pope Clement XIII, which are recognised as the most beautiful of such sculptures;
the Chapel of San Gregorio in the right aisle, which houses the most valuable icon of the 12th century;
the Chapel of San Sebastiano, located near the entrance to the cathedral, is where Pope John Paul II is buried;
Finally, the main masterpiece that St Peter's Cathedral offers visitors is Michelangelo's Pieta - a statue of the Virgin Mary mourning her son (the sculpture is hidden from vandals under thick glass).

And now we can return to the central nave, where under the dome is the high altar, set over the relics of St Peter. Above the altar rises a canopy that rests on 4 twisted columns. This is the brainchild of Bernini, which took 10 years to complete.

Even higher, above the altar and the canopy, soars, and otherwise you can not say, a huge dome, which is supported by pylons. They are decorated with five-metre high statues of St Andrew, St Veronica with a plaque, the centurion Longinus and Queen Helen.

Another statue you should definitely approach is also in the central nave. It depicts a seated St Peter. Every visitor to the cathedral tries to rub the right foot of the bronze apostle, for there is a legend that such a touch will lead to the fulfilment of dreams.

Climbing the dome

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When Michelangelo was brought in to build St Peter's Cathedral, he was already in his eighth decade. The dome that now crowns the basilica building is his brainchild. His predecessors, who held the position of chief architect of the cathedral, had already developed projects of the dome. There were variants by Bramante, which Peruzzi finalised, and Sangallo.

Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, who worked on the construction of the basilica in 1538-1546, created a wooden model of the future cathedral, which has survived to this day. Had his plan been realised, we would now see a Gothic temple with two bell towers. The abundance of Gothic details in Sangallo's project did not suit Michelangelo, so he took the drawings of Bramante's dome as a basis.

The dome, 41.47 metres in diameter, rises 136 metres above the cathedral. At the top there is an observation deck that offers a marvellous view of St. Peter's Square, the Vatican Gardens, the Vatican palaces, and the whole of Rome.

To climb to the dome's observation deck, you will have to buy tickets. The cost to climb the dome is 10 and 8 euros. The price differs depending on which way up you prefer. For 10 euros you will be taken up to the height of 8 floors and then you will be allowed to walk 320 steps to the observation deck. For 8 euros, you will be deprived of the lift and walk up 551 steps, which is 45 floors.

Those who have already accomplished the feat and climbed to such heights recommend:

arrive early to climb the dome - the first people are allowed on the site at 7:30;.
bring a bottle of water;
be ready to the fact that you will go up in one stream of tourists, that is, to look at the back of the one ahead of you and hear the breath of the next curious traveller, which means that you can not slow down and rest when climbing;
do not take with you small children and elderly relatives - the ascent to the dome they will give them a hard time;
it will not be possible to drag a pram upstairs - the staircase is very narrow in some places;
descending from the dome is carried out by another staircase, so those who are going up, will not interfere with you;
the entrance to the dome platform and the ticket office are located near the entrance to the cathedral.

Despite the challenges, the dome observation deck is well worth the effort to climb it at least once.

The Vatican Grottoes

To the left of the main altar of St Peter's Basilica there is a staircase to the crypt, which are called the Vatican Grottoes. They are located 3 metres below the floor. It is a vast dungeon, where are buried not only representatives of the highest Catholic clergy, but also members of the imperial and royal families, and ordinary Christians who lived at a time when the Vatican Hill was a common cemetery instead of the most famous temple in the world.

The ashes of 22 pontiffs rest in the dungeon. Pope John Paul II was the last head of the Catholic Church to be buried in the crypt under the centre altar. However, after some time, his remains were moved upstairs to the chapel of St Peter's Cathedral.

Many of the sarcophagi in the grottoes are richly decorated by eminent craftsmen of their time. Note the tombs of Popes Boniface VIII and Sixtus IV.

Tourist Tips

The Vatican is a separate little state that should be sought out in Rome. That is, tourists planning a visit to St Peter's Basilica will most likely be staying in a Rome hotel. The easiest way to get to the Vatican is to book a tour of the main church of the Catholic world and museums. But there are travellers who want to discover the treasures of St. Peter's Basilica on their own. The following can be recommended to them:

getting to the Vatican is easy - there are metro trains (get off at the Ottaviana stop on the A line), buses #32, 40, 49, 62, 64 and some others that stop at Via della Conciliazione, trolleybus #19 that takes passengers to the Piazza Risorgimento stop;
if you live in the centre, you can easily reach St. Peter's on foot;
to come to St Peter's Square and go straight into the church will not work, because beforehand you will have to stand a queue of the same sufferers to kneel in front of the tomb of the Apostle Peter and admire the masterpieces of the Renaissance masters;
the queue is slow as everyone entering the basilica is passed through a metal detector;
entry to the church is free, entrance tickets are required when climbing the dome of the cathedral;
photography without flash is permitted inside the church.