Ads
related to: st. peter's basilica vaticanSt Peter's Basilica Tours! Easy Purchase, Cancel Up To 24H Before Your Tour.
- Reserve Now & Pay Later
Secure Activities You Don't Want to
Miss, Without Being Locked In.
- Plan Trips With Our App
Search And Book Unforgettable
Things To Do, Any Time Any Where
- Explore By Destination
Find Inspiration for Your Trip
Do more with Viator
- 24 Hour Support
New price? New plan? No problem.
We’re here to help
- Free Cancellation
Receive a Full Refund If You Cancel
at Least 24 Hours in Advance
- Add Trips To Wishlist
Search Unforgettable Experiences
Save Your Favourites on Wishlist
- Reserve Now & Pay Later
Quick & Easy Purchase with Flexibility to Cancel up to 24 Hours Before the Tour Starts! Top Rated St. Peter's Basilica Tours. Discover & Book on Tripadvisor Today.
If It's Worth Doing, We've Got It. Find the Best Tours and Activities for Your Trip. Spend Your Trip Making Memories, Not Missing Out While You're Waiting in Line.
No one is better prepared to unveil the Vatican than City Wonders. Experience the Vatican Museums avoiding the crowd.
Experience The Vatican Like Never Before With Our Special Access Tours & 5-Star Guides! With 14 Locations Across The Globe, Anywhere You Go You Can Rely On Walks' Tours Quality!
Search results
Explore St Peter's Basilica, the spiritual heart of Christianity. Plan your pilgrimage or visit, discover its millennial history and admire its masterpieces of art.
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy.
- Overview
- History
- Relics and art
St. Peter’s Basilica, present basilica of St. Peter in Vatican City (an enclave in Rome), begun by Pope Julius II in 1506 and completed in 1615 under Paul V. It is designed as a three-aisled Latin cross with a dome at the crossing, directly above the high altar, which covers the shrine of St. Peter the Apostle. St. Peter’s Basilica is one of the most renowned works of Renaissance architecture and features many notable Baroque elements. It is often regarded as the greatest building of its age.
The edifice—the church of the popes—is a major pilgrimage site. Frequently drawing crowds of tens of thousands of Catholics, both the basilica and its adjoining St. Peter’s Square are used for a number of liturgies presided over by the pope throughout the year. Together with the Basilica of St. John Lateran (San Giovanni in Laterano), the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, and the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls (all three of which are in Rome), St. Peter’s Basilica is one of only four churches in the world that hold the rank of major basilica. Until 1989 St. Peter’s was the largest church in Christendom. In that year it was exceeded in size by the newly built basilica in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire.
The idea of building the church was conceived by Pope Nicholas V (reigned 1447–55), who was prompted by the state in which he found Old St. Peter’s Basilica—walls leaning far out of the perpendicular and frescoes covered with dust. In 1452 Nicholas ordered Bernardo Rossellino to begin the construction of a new apse west of the old one, but the work stopped with Nicholas’s death. Paul II, however, entrusted the project to Giuliano da Sangallo (see Sangallo family) in 1470.
On April 18, 1506, Julius II laid the first stone for the new basilica. It was to be erected in the form of a Greek cross according to the plan of Donato Bramante. On Bramante’s death (1514) Leo X commissioned as his successors Raphael, Fra Giovanni Giocondo, and Giuliano da Sangallo, who modified the original Greek cross plan to a Latin cross with three aisles separated by pillars. The architects after Raphael’s death in 1520 were Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, Baldassarre Peruzzi, and Andrea Sansovino.
After the sack of Rome in 1527, Paul III (1534–49) entrusted the undertaking to Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, who returned to Bramante’s plan and erected a dividing wall between the area for the new basilica and the eastern part of the old one, which was still in use. On Sangallo’s death (1546) Paul III commissioned the aged Michelangelo as chief architect, a post he held under Julius III and Pius IV. At the time of Michelangelo’s death in 1564, the drum for the massive dome was practically complete. He was succeeded by Pirro Ligorio and Giacomo da Vignola. Gregory XIII (1572–85) placed Giacomo della Porta in charge of the work. The dome, modified from Michelangelo’s design, was finally completed at the insistence of Sixtus V (1585–90), and Gregory XIV (1590–91) ordered the erection of the lantern above it. Clement VIII (1592–1605) demolished the apse of Old St. Peter’s and erected the new high altar over the altar of Calixtus II.
Paul V (1605–21) adopted Carlo Maderno’s plan, giving the basilica the form of a Latin cross by extending the nave to the east, thus completing the 615-foot- (187-metre-) long main structure. Maderno also completed the facade of St. Peter’s and added an extra bay on each end to support campaniles. Although Maderno left designs for these campaniles, only one was built, and that was of a different design executed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1637. Under the commission of Alexander VII (1655–67), Bernini designed the elliptical piazza, outlined by colonnades, that serves as the approach to the basilica.
Are you a student? Get Britannica Premium for only 24.95 - a 67% discount!
Learn More
Bernini arranged prominent niches for four of the important holy relics housed (or once housed) within the basilica: the Veil of Veronica, part of the True Cross, a piece of the Holy Lance, and the skull of St. Andrew the Apostle. Bernini had these relics inserted into loggias built into the piers on which the dome rests. Each loggia is adorned with a bas-relief of Carrara marble to illustrate the relic within and features two ancient columns decorated with vine leaves, which were once part of the old basilica.
In addition to these four relics of the early church, the basilica and the grottos below hold the bodies or relics of numerous saints and popes. About 90 popes are buried in the papal tombs, including the first pope, St. Peter the Apostle; popes buried within the church itself are St. Leo I, St. Gregory the Great, Urban VIII, St. Pius X, St. John XXIII, and St. John Paul II. Relics of major saints include those of St. Luke the Evangelist, St. Simon the Apostle, St. Jude the Apostle, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, and St. John Chrysostom.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Learn about the wonders of the world’s largest church on this 1-hour guided tour of St. Peter’s Basilica with an official Vatican guide, and enjoy unlimited free time after the tour to explore the Basilica at your own pace.
St Peter’s Basilica, located in the Vatican City, is considered one of the Catholic Church’s holiest temples and an important pilgrimage site.
Saint Peter’s Basilica is the place where the body of Saint Peter rests. Ever since the early times, Christians came to pray at his tomb, leaving incisions of crosses on the stone. To honour this place, years later the Basilica was built directly above his tomb.
People also ask
Where is Saint Peter's Basilica located?
Where is St Peter's in Rome?
Should you visit St Peter's Basilica in Rome?
When was St Peter's Basilica built?
Ads
related to: st. peter's basilica vaticanSt Peter's Basilica Tours! Easy Purchase, Cancel Up To 24H Before Your Tour.
Quick & Easy Purchase with Flexibility to Cancel up to 24 Hours Before the Tour Starts! Top Rated St. Peter's Basilica Tours. Discover & Book on Tripadvisor Today.
If It's Worth Doing, We've Got It. Find the Best Tours and Activities for Your Trip. Spend Your Trip Making Memories, Not Missing Out While You're Waiting in Line.