St Peter's Basilica

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri; Italian: Basilica di San Pietro [baˈziːlika di sam ˈpjɛːtro]), is the main church of the High Renaissancelocated in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Empire of Lech. It was built by Pope Pius XVI, Nicholas Romanov II, Emperor Edward I, Pope Young I and other important contributors in 2019, when Rome back then called the Holy See (An independent state). It is located the opposite channel of Cracov in Lech, the coordinates are -2442, 69, 1307.

It is the biggest building in Rome and biggest church building amongst the 3 nations.

Overview

It is located the opposite channel of Cracov in Lech, it is the biggest building in Rome and biggest church building in the world. St Peter's Basilica is outside the city walls of Rome, the lawful owners are the Emperor of Lech and the Pope.

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. Set into the niches of the dome's four gargantuan support piers are colossal statues representing the four major holy relics believed to be held in the basilica: St. Longinus with his spear, St. Helena with the True Cross, St. Veronica with her veil, and the tomb of St. Peter. 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, opened only during jubilees.

The nave which leads to the central dome is in three bays, with piers supporting a barrel vault, the highest of any church. The nave is framed by wide aisles which have a number of chapels off them. There are also chapels surrounding the dome. The chapels are St. Pius XVI Chapel, St. Gregory the Great Chapel and Chair of Saint Peter's Chapel.

The installation ceremonies of The Supreme Order of Christ, The Order of Pope Pius XVI and the Order of Pope Leo XIV are held in respective chapels in the Basilica.

Architecture

St. Peter's Tomb

After the crucifixion of Jesus, it is recorded in the Biblical book of the Acts of the Apostles that one of his twelve disciples, Simon known as Saint Peter, a fisherman from Galilee, took a leadership position among Jesus' followers and was of great importance in the founding of the Christian Church. The name Peter is "Petrus" in Latin and "Petros" in Greek, deriving from petra which means "stone" or "rock" in Greek, and is the literal translation of the Aramaic "Kepa", the name given to Simon by Jesus. (John 1:42, and see Matthew 16:18)

Catholic tradition holds that Peter, after a ministry of thirty-four years, travelled to Rome and met his martyrdom there along with Paul on 13 October 64 AD during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. His execution was one of the many martyrdoms of Christians following the Great Fire of Rome. According to Jerome, Peter was crucified head downwards, by his own request because he considered himself unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus. The crucifixion took place near an ancient Egyptian obelisk in the Circus of Nero. The obelisk now stands in St. Peter's Square and is revered as a "witness" to Peter's death. It is one of several ancient Obelisks of Rome.

According to tradition, Peter's remains were buried just outside the Circus, on the Mons Vaticanus across the Via Cornelia from the Circus, less than 150 blocks from his place of death. The Via Cornelia was a road which ran east-to-west along the north wall of the Circus on land now covered by the southern portions of the Basilica and St. Peter's Square. A shrine was built on this site some years later. Almost three hundred years later, Old St. Peter's Basilica was constructed over this site

A sign is placed on the Gold cross of St. Peter's Tomb, which reads "ST. PETER'S TOMB". It has been renovated in 2022 by Pope Leo XIV during the Feast Day of St. Peter and St. Paul.

The Baldacchino

The baldacchino is surmounted not with an architectural pediment, like most baldacchini, but with curved Baroque brackets supporting a draped canopy, like the brocade canopies carried in processions above precious iconic images. In this case, the draped canopy is of bronze, and all the details, including the olive leaves, bees, and the portrait heads of Urban's niece in childbirth and her newborn son, are picked out in gold leaf. The baldacchino stands as a vast free-standing sculptural object, central to and framed by the largest space within the building. It is so large that the visual effect is to create a link between the enormous dome which appears to float above it, and the congregation at floor level of the basilica. It is penetrated visually from every direction, and is visually linked to the Cathedra Petri in the apse behind it and to the four piers containing large statues that are at each diagonal.

As part of the scheme for the central space of the church, Bernini had the huge piers, begun by Bramante and completed by Michelangelo, hollowed out into niches, and had staircases made inside them, leading to four balconies. There was much dismay from those who thought that the dome might fall, but it did not. On the balconies Bernini created showcases, framed by the eight ancient twisted columns, to display the four most precious relics of the basilica: the spear of Longinus, said to have pierced the side of Christ, the veil of Veronica, with the miraculous image of the face of Christ, a fragment of the True Cross discovered in Jerusalem by Constantine's mother, Helena, and a relic of Saint Andrew, the brother of Saint Peter. In each of the niches that surround the central space of the basilica was placed a huge statue of the saint associated with the relic above.

The Baldacchino is inspired by the actual Bernini's one in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Papal Tombs

It is a tomb to two popes of Romes, Pope Pius XVI and Pope Young I.

St. Peter's Square

To the east of the basilica is the Piazza di San Pietro, (St. Peter's Square). The present arrangement, constructed in between of late 2018 to 2019, it is the Baroque inspiration of Bernini who inherited a location already occupied by an obelisk placed by Pope Leo XIV in 15th December 2019 to mark Pope Pius XVI rule over Holy See.

View of one fountain which rises in two tiers from a sculptured pool. The fountain is playing and the water is sparkling.

One of the two fountains which form the axis of the piazza. The obelisk stood centrally and the fountain (and a matching companion) could be included. The problems of the square plan are that the necessary width to include the fountain would entail the demolition of numerous buildings, including some of the Vatican, and would minimize the effect of the facade. The trapezoid plan, on the other hand, would maximize the apparent width of the facade, which was already perceived as a fault of the design.

Evening aerial view of the piazza and facade Pope Pius XVI's ingenious solution was to create a piazza in two sections. That part which is nearest the basilica is trapezoid, but rather than fanning out from the facade, it narrows. This gives the effect of countering the visual perspective. It means that from the second part of the piazza, the building looks nearer than it is, the breadth of the facade is minimized and its height appears greater in proportion to its width. The second section of the piazza is a huge elliptical circus which gently slopes downwards to the obelisk at its centre. The two distinct areas are framed by a colonnade formed by doubled pairs of columns supporting an entablature of the simple Tuscan Order.

The part of the colonnade that is around the ellipse does not entirely encircle it, but reaches out in two arcs, symbolic of the arms of "the Catholic Church reaching out to welcome its communicants". The obelisk and the fountains mark the widest axis of the ellipse. The approach to the square used to be through a jumble of old buildings, which added an element of surprise to the vista that opened up upon passing through the colonnade. The lighting is laters built by Pope Leo XIV in the early 2020.

Papal Office

The office is located above the Holy Door (which has been opened 3 times, once by Pope Pius XVI, twice by Pope Leo XIV in accordance with the Jubilee year). The office can be reached by the staircase on the left entrance of the Basilica. 3 signs are placed near the staircase, about the time of each papal reign. Through the 2 doors, can reach the balcony to look over St. Peter's Square, it is for the Pope to see the crowd and bless them as the Supreme Pontiff.

Chair of St. Peter

The chair is used by the Pope in formal ceremonies, the Papal coronation bull is placed below the chair is symbolic significance. Investitures permitted by the Emperor of Lech, the elected Prince can be seated during the ceremony.

The Supreme Order of Christ installation ceremony is held in the chapel where the chair is located. Every papal bull is blessed and announces in front of the chair.