| St. Peter's Basilica | |
|---|---|
Basilica Sancti Petri (Latin) | |
 19th-century drawing of St. Peter's Basilica as it is thought to have looked around 1450. TheVatican obelisk is on the left, still standing on the spot where it was erected on the orders of theEmperor Caligula in 37 AD. | |
 St. Peter's Basilica | |
| 41°54′8″N12°27′12″E / 41.90222°N 12.45333°E /41.90222; 12.45333 | |
| Location | Rome |
| Country | Vatican City |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| History | |
| Status | Major basilica |
| Consecrated | c. 360[citation needed] |
| Architecture | |
| Style | Early Christian |
| Groundbreaking | Between 326 (326) and 333 |
| Completed | c. 360 |
| Demolished | c. 1505 |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Diocese of Rome |
Old St. Peter's Basilica consisted of the church buildings that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, whereSt. Peter's Basilica stands today inVatican City. Construction of thebasilica, built over the historical site of theCircus of Nero, began during the reign of Roman EmperorConstantine I. The name "old St. Peter's Basilica" has been used since the construction of the current basilica to distinguish the two buildings.[1]
Construction began by orders of the Roman EmperorConstantine I between 318 and 322, after hisconversion to Christianity[2] and took about 40 years to complete. Over the next twelve centuries, the church gradually gained importance, eventually becoming a major place of pilgrimage inRome.
Papal coronations were held at the basilica, and in 800,Charlemagne was crownedemperor of theCarolingian Empire there. In 846,Saracenssacked and damaged the basilica.[3] The raiders seem to have known about Rome's extraordinary treasures. Some basilicas, such as St. Peter's Basilica, were outside theAurelian walls, and thus easy targets. They were "filled to overflowing with rich liturgical vessels and with jeweled reliquaries housing all of the relics recently amassed". As a result, the raiders destroyedSaint Peter's tomb[4] and pillaged the holy shrine.[5] In responsePope Leo IV built theLeonine wall and rebuilt the parts of St. Peter's that had been damaged.[6]
By the 15th century, the church was falling into ruin. Discussions on repairing parts of the structure commenced upon the pope'sreturn fromAvignon. Two people involved in this reconstruction wereLeon Battista Alberti andBernardo Rossellino, who improved theapse and partially added a multi-storybenedictionloggia to theatrium façade, on which construction continued intermittently until the new basilica was begun. Alberti pronounced the basilica a structural abomination:
I have noticed in the basilica of St. Peter's in Rome a crass feature: an extremely long and high wall has been constructed over a continuous series of openings, with no curves to give it strength, and nobuttresses to lend it support... The whole stretch of wall has been pierced by too many openings and built too high... As a result, the continual force of the wind has already displaced the wall more than six feet (1.8 m) from the vertical; I have no doubt that eventually some... slight movement will make it collapse...[7]
At first,Pope Julius II had every intention of preserving the old building, but his attention soon turned toward tearing it down and building a new structure. Many people of the time[who?] were shocked by the proposal, as the building represented papal continuity going back toSaint Peter. The original altar was to be preserved in the new structure that housed it. The church was demolished in 1505 and construction of thenew church began the following year.[8]
![Ground plan by Tiberio Alfarano, c. 1590, locating the original chapels and tombs[9]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAlfarano_map.jpg)
![Fontana della Pigna (1st ct. AD), which stood in the courtyard of Old St. Peter's[a]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aCortile_della_Pigna_pine_cone_2.jpg)
_-_2021-08-27_-_22.jpg)
The design was a typical basilica form[10] with the plan and elevation resembling those of Roman basilicas and audience halls, such as theBasilica Ulpia inTrajan's Forum and Constantine's ownAula Palatina atTrier, rather than the design of anyGreco-Roman temple.[11] The design may have been derived from the description ofSolomon's Temple in1 Kings 6.[12]
Constantine took great pains to build the basilica on the site he andPope Sylvester I believed to be Saint Peter's grave, which had been marked since at least the second century.[1][13] This influenced the layout of the building, which was erected on the slopedVatican Hill,[13] on the west bank of theTiber River.[1] Notably, since the site was outside the boundaries of the ancient city, the apse with thealtar was located in the west, so that the basilica's façade could be approached from Rome itself to the east. The exterior, unlike earlier pagan temples, was not lavishly decorated.[1]
The church was capable of housing from 3,000 to 4,000 worshipers at one time. It consisted of five aisles, a wide centralnave and two smaller aisles to each side, which were each divided by 21 marble columns,taken from earlier pagan buildings.[14] It was over 350 feet (110 m) long, built in the shape of aLatin cross, and had agabled roof which was timbered on the interior and which stood at over 100 feet (30 m) at the center. In the 6th century, an atrium—known as the "Garden of Paradise"—was added at the entrance and had five doors, which led to the body of the church.
The altar of Old St. Peter's Basilica used severalSolomonic columns. According to tradition,Constantine took these columns from theTemple of Solomon and gave them to the church; however, the columns were probably from anEastern church. WhenGian Lorenzo Bernini builthis baldacchino to cover the new St. Peter's altar, he drew from the twisted design of the old columns. Eight of the original columns were moved to the piers of the new St. Peter's.
The greatNavicella mosaic (1305–1313) in the atrium is attributed toGiotto di Bondone. This giant mosaic, commissioned byCardinal Jacopo Stefaneschi, occupied the whole wall above the entrance arcade facing the courtyard. It depictedSt. Peter walking on the waters. This extraordinary work was mainly destroyed during the construction of the new St. Peter's in the 16th century, but fragments were preserved. Navicella means "little ship" referring to the large boat which dominated the scene, and whose sail—filled by storm winds—loomed over the horizon. Such a natural representation of a seascape was known only from ancient works of art.
The nave ended with an arch, which held a mosaic of Constantine and Saint Peter, who presented a model of the church to Christ. On the walls, each having 11 windows, werefrescoes of various people and scenes from boththe Old andNew Testament.[15] According to combined statements byGhiberti andVasari, Giotto painted five frescoes of the life of Christ and various other panels, some of which Vasari said were "either destroyed or carried away from the old structure of St. Peter's during the building of the new walls."[16]
The fragment of an 8th-century mosaic, theEpiphany, is one of the very rare remaining pieces of the medieval decoration of Old St. Peter's Basilica. It is kept in the sacristy ofSanta Maria in Cosmedin and proves the high artistic quality of the destroyed mosaics. Another one, a standingmadonna, is on a side altar in the Basilica ofSan Marco inFlorence.
Since the crucifixion and burial of Saint Peter in 64 AD, the spot was thought to be the location of the tomb of Saint Peter, where there stood a small shrine. With its increasing prestige, the church became richly decorated with statues, furnishings and elaborate chandeliers, and side tombs and altars were continuously added.[1]
The structure was filled with tombs and bodies of saints and popes. Bones continued to be found in construction as late as February 1544.
The majority of these tombs were destroyed during the 16th and 17th centuries' demolition of Old St. Peter's Basilica (save one which was destroyed during theSaracen Sack of the church in 846). The remainder were transferred, mostly just thesarcophagi or coffins and their contents, to modern St. Peter's Basilica, which stands on the site of the original basilica, and a handful of other churches of Rome.
The only papal tombs to survive the demolition and be properly reconstructed in the present St Peter's are the two from the 1490s byAntonio del Pollaiuolo, ofPope Innocent VIII andPope Sixtus IV. These were well-regarded and innovative works, with bronzeeffigies by a major Florentine sculptor.[17]
Along with the repeatedtranslations from the ancientCatacombs of Rome and two 14th century fires in theArchbasilica of Saint John Lateran, the rebuilding of St. Peter's is responsible for the destruction of approximately half of all papal tombs. As a result,Donato Bramante, the chief architect of modern St. Peter's Basilica, has been remembered asMaestro Ruinante.[18]
_c.1330_220x245cm._Pinacoteca%2c_Vatican..jpg)
_c.1330_220x245cm._Pinacoteca%2c_Vatican..jpg)
TheStefaneschi Altarpiece is atriptych by the Italian medieval painterGiotto, commissioned byCardinalGiacomo Gaetani Stefaneschi[19] to serve as analtarpiece for one of the altars of Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
It is a rare example in Giotto's work of a documented commission, and includes Giotto's signature, although the date, like most dates for Giotto, is disputed, and many scholars feel the artist's workshop was responsible for its execution.[20] It had long been thought to have been made for the main altar of the church; more recent research suggests that it was placed on the "canon's altar", located in the nave, just to the left of the huge arched opening into thetransept.[21] It is now at thePinacoteca Vaticana, Rome.
Footnotes
Citations
it was not at this time unusual for Muslims to desecrate Christian Churches for the sake of desecrating them, excavation has revealed that the tomb of the apostle was want only smashed
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