St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Vatican - Renaissance Architecture on Waymarking.com

The Basilica of St. Peter is a huge church in the Renaissance style located in Rome west of the River Tiber and near the Janiculum Hill and Hadrian's Mausoleum. Its central dome dominates the skyline of Rome. The basilica is approached via St Peter's Piazza, a forecourt in two sections, both surrounded by tall colonnades. The first space is oval and the second trapezoid. The facade of the basilica, with a giant order of columns, stretches across the end of the square and is approached by steps on which stand two huge statues of the first century apostles to Rome, Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

The basilica is cruciform in shape, with an elongated nave in the Latin cross form but the early designs were for a centrally-planned structure and this is still in evidence in the architecture. The central space is dominated both externally and internally by one of the largest domes in the world. The entrance is through a narthex, or entrance hall, which stretches across the building. One of the decorated bronze doors leading from the narthex is the Holy Door, only opened in Holy Years.

The interior is of vast dimensions by comparison with other churches. One author wrote: "Only gradually does it dawn upon us - as we watch people draw near to this or that monument, strangely they appear to shrink; they are, of course, dwarfed by the scale of everything in the building. This in its turn overwhelms us."
A view of Rome on a sunny afternoon looking along the river. A bridge crosses the river and beyond it is a hill on which the grey dome of St Peter's rises above ancient buildings and dark pine trees.
St. Peter's Basilica from the River Tiber. The iconic dome dominates the skyline of Rome.

There is a barrel-vaulted nave, the highest of any church, leading to the central dome. The aisles are lower and have a number of chapels off them. There are also chapels surrounding the central dome. Moving around the basilica in a clockwise direction they are: The Baptistery, the Chapel of the Presentation of the Virgin, the larger Choir Chapel, the Clementine Chapel with the altar of St Gregory, the Sacristy Entrance, the left transept with altars to the Crucifixion of St Peter, St Joseph and St Thomas, the altar of the Sacred Heart, the Chapel of the Madonna of Colonna, the altar of St Peter and the Paralytic, the apse with St Peter's Cathedra, the altar of St Peter raising Tabitha, the altar of the Archangel Michael, the altar of the Navicella, the right transept with altars of St Erasmus, Saints Processo and Martiniano, and St Wenceslas, the altar of St Basil, the Gregorian Chapel with the altar of the Madonna of Succour, the larger Chapel of the Holy Sacrament, the Chapel of St Sebastian and the Chapel of the Pieta.

The entire interior is lavishly decorated with marble, reliefs, architectural sculpture and gilding. The basilica contains a large number of tombs of popes and other notable people, many of which are considered outstanding artworks. There are also a number of sculptures in niches and chapels, including Michelangelo's Pieta. The central feature is a baldachin, or canopy over the Papal Altar, designed by Gianlorenzo Bernini. The sanctuary culminates in a sculptural ensemble, also by Bernini, and containing the symbolic Chair of St Peter.

One observer wrote: "St Peter's Basilica is the reason why Rome is still the center of the civilized world. For religious, historical, and architectural reasons it by itself justifies a journey to Rome, and its interior offers a palimpsest of artistic styles at their best..."

Date of origin:: 1506-1626 Architect(s): Donato Bramante, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Michelangelo, Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola, Giacomo della Porta, Carlo Maderno, Gianlorenzo Bernini Style: Mannerism (ca. 1520–1600) Web site of the object (if exists): [Web Link] Type of building (structure): Large religious building (church, monastery, synagogue...) Address: Vatican City Vatican

Visit Instructions:
Logging requirements: Please upload your own personal photo of the building. You or your GPS can be in the picture, but it’s not a requirement.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   09/17/2023 Chickilim visited it 08/14/2023 GURUGU visited it 06/16/2023 2garzasdefuego visited it 06/03/2023 breukelenh visited it 06/03/2023 MaaBo visited it 02/21/2023 DeBoerHuissen visited it 09/30/2022 Ramonda_ visited it 10/09/2021 sara et gege visited it 08/25/2020 Ariberna visited it 10/16/2019 Cyrano-Bella visited it 09/10/2019 Wilina visited it 06/30/2019 ilkkarjs visited it 04/19/2019 m&m O visited it 04/16/2019 Lynx Humble visited it 03/14/2019 AiliLe visited it 11/03/2018 NH82 visited it 08/17/2018 seiza visited it 08/06/2018 kaschper69 visited it 05/22/2018 Mito-80 visited it 03/31/2018 doodle_cz visited it 11/19/2017 Andre 61 visited it 11/13/2017 andre61 visited it 10/15/2017 GeoVašek visited it 10/03/2017 ballbreaker67 visited it 06/23/2017 LeBourguignon visited it

View all visits/logs