St. Peter’s Basilica, presentbasilica of St. Peter inVatican City (anenclave inRome), begun by PopeJulius II in 1506 and completed in 1615 underPaul V. It is designed as a three-aisled Latin cross with a dome at the crossing, directly above the highaltar, which covers the shrine ofSt. Peter the Apostle. St. Peter’s Basilica is one of the most renowned works ofRenaissance architecture and features many notableBaroque elements. It is often regarded as the greatest building of its age.

The edifice—thechurch of the popes—is a majorpilgrimage site. Frequently drawing crowds of tens of thousands ofCatholics, both the basilica and its adjoining St. Peter’s Square are used for a number ofliturgies presided over by thepope throughout the year. Together with theBasilica of St. John Lateran (San Giovanni in Laterano), theBasilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, and the Basilica ofSt. 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 inYamoussoukro,Côte d’Ivoire.

History

The idea of building the church was conceived by PopeNicholas V (reigned 1447–55), who was prompted by the state in which he foundOld St. Peter’s Basilica—walls leaning far out of the perpendicular and frescoes covered with dust. In 1452 Nicholas orderedBernardo Rossellino to begin the construction of a newapse west of the old one, but the work stopped with Nicholas’sdeath.Paul II, however,entrusted the project to Giuliano da Sangallo (seeSangallo family) in 1470.

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Rome: St. Peter’s

On April 18, 1506,Julius II laid the first stone for the new basilica. It was to be erected in the form of aGreek cross according to the plan ofDonato Bramante. On Bramante’s death (1514)Leo X commissioned as his successorsRaphael,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, andAndrea 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 IIIcommissioned the agedMichelangelo as chief architect, a post he held underJulius III andPius IV. At the time of Michelangelo’s death in 1564, the drum for the massivedome was practically complete. He was succeeded byPirro Ligorio andGiacomo da Vignola.Gregory XIII (1572–85) placedGiacomo della Porta in charge of the work. The dome, modified from Michelangelo’s design, was finally completed at the insistence ofSixtus V (1585–90), andGregory XIV (1590–91) ordered the erection of thelantern above it.Clement VIII (1592–1605) demolished the apse of Old St. Peter’s and erected the new high altar over the altar ofCalixtus II.

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Paul V (1605–21) adoptedCarlo Maderno’s plan, giving the basilica the form of a Latin cross by extending thenave to the east, thus completing the 615-foot- (187-meter-) long main structure. Maderno also completed the facade of St. Peter’s and added an extrabay on each end to supportcampaniles. Although Maderno left designs for these campaniles, only one was built, and that was of a different design executed byGian Lorenzo Bernini in 1637. Under the commission ofAlexander VII (1655–67), Bernini designed the ellipticalpiazza, outlined bycolonnades, that serves as the approach to the basilica.

Relics and art

Bernini arranged prominentniches for four of the important holyrelics housed (or once housed) within the basilica: theVeil of Veronica, part of theTrue Cross, a piece of theHoly Lance, and the skull ofSt. Andrew the Apostle. Bernini had these relics inserted into loggias built into the piers on which the dome rests. Eachloggia is adorned with a bas-relief of Carraramarble to illustrate the relic within and features two ancient columns decorated with vine leaves, which were once part of the old basilica.

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In addition to these four relics of theearly church, the basilica and the grottos below hold the bodies orrelics of numeroussaints andpopes. About 90 popes are buried in the papal tombs, including the first pope,St. Peter the Apostle; popes buried within the church itself areSt. Leo I,St. Gregory the Great,Urban VIII,St. Pius X,St. John XXIII, andSt. John Paul II. Relics of major saints include those ofSt. Luke the Evangelist,St. Simon the Apostle,St. Jude the Apostle,St. Gregory of Nazianzus, andSt. John Chrysostom.

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The interior of St. Peter’s is filled with many masterpieces of Renaissance and Baroque art, among the most famous of which are Michelangelo’sPietà, thebaldachin by Bernini over the main altar, the statue of St. Longinus in the crossing, thetomb ofUrban VIII, and thebronzecathedra of St. Peter in the apse.