St. Peter's Basilica

Interesting facts

Its dome rises 136.6 metres to the top of the cross and is still the tallest dome in the world.

The interior covers about 15,160 square metres, and the basilica can hold some 60,000 people standing.

Bramante laid the foundation stone on 18 April 1506, and Pope Urban VIII consecrated the finished church on 18 November 1626, 120 years later.

Bramante's original plan was an enormous Greek cross, with four arms of equal length.

The rebuilding was partly paid for by selling indulgences, and Johann Tetzel's aggressive campaign became a spark of the Protestant Reformation.

Bernini's bronze canopy over the papal altar, built between 1623 and 1634, stands 28.74 metres high.

Romans believed the canopy's bronze was stripped from the Pantheon, which inspired the jibe that the Barberini did what the barbarians had not.

The coats of arms on the canopy's eight marble plinths hide a story of childbirth, with a woman's face changing in labour until a cherub's head replaces it.

Excavations beneath the basilica began in 1939 and lasted about ten years, exploring the area of Saint Peter's traditional grave.

In 2024 the Vatican and Microsoft built a 3D model of the basilica from more than 400,000 high-resolution photographs taken by drones.

Why it is worth it

Michelangelo took over as chief architect of St. Peter's in 1546, at 71 years old, and worked on it until his death eighteen years later — but he never saw the dome finished, and that appears to have been deliberate. By the time he died in 1564, he had made sure the drum supporting the dome was essentially complete, which locked in the essentials of his design: whoever came next could finish the shape, but not redesign it.

That successor turned out to be Giacomo della Porta, working with Domenico Fontana, who raised the actual dome — a double shell, slightly more pointed than Michelangelo's original drawings — in just 22 months between 1588 and 1590, using around 800 laborers. The final piece, a gilded bronze sphere and cross for the lantern at the very top, wasn't hoisted into place until November 1593, nearly thirty years after Michelangelo's death.

The scale is easy to state and hard to actually picture: the interior is spacious enough that the Statue of Liberty, pedestal included, could stand upright under the dome without its torch touching the top.

Good to know

The dome was completed by della Porta and Fontana in 1588–1590, decades after Michelangelo's death in 1564.
One of the most visited churches on Earth; queues for the dome climb and the basilica itself build quickly after mid-morning.

Best time to visit

Right at opening, early morning, before tour groups arrive from central Rome.

Getting there

Located in Vatican City. Ciampino–G. B. Pastine International Airport (CIA) is about 17 km away.

Plan your visit

We have no confirmed visit data yet. Once it is confirmed, this block also carries the date it was checked.

From the encyclopaedia

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, or simply St. Peter's Basilica, is a church of the Italian Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initially planned in the 15th century by Pope Nicholas V and then Pope Julius II to replace the ageing Old St. Peter's Basilica, which was built in the fourth century by Roman emperor Constantine the Great. Construction of the present basilica began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626.

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