In an earlier post we talked about three of the four papal basilicas at Rome: Santa Maria Maggiore, San Paulo Fuori le Mure, and San Giovanni Laterano. We saved the most famous for a separate post, and here it is! San Pietro/St Peter’s Basilica sits upon Vatican hill (in Latin Mons Vaticanus) across the Tiber from the seven hills of Rome.
When most people think of a big Catholic basilica in Rome, they think about St Peter’s. Even though St John Lateran is actually the oldest, and the mother church of Christendom. St John’s is also the official residence of the Pope. But St Peter’s is the grandest, residing in Vatican City, the autonomous city-state established by the Lateran Treaty of 1929. The buildings surrounding St Peter’s have been the de facto home of the ruling pope since the 14th century.
The site where St Peter now stands on the Vatican hill (the ancient Romans were not sure of what the word ‘Vaticanus’ meant) was in Roman times a circus, i.e., a race-course, specifically the race-course of the emperor Nero. This is where, according to Catholic tradition, the martyrdom of St Peter happened. (Fun fact: he was crucified upside down because he felt he was unworthy to be crucified in the manner that Jesus was.) Like the other papal basilicas, there were earlier buildings on the current site. The first was that of Constantine in the early 4th century. He built on what was believed to be the burial site of the apostle Peter.
The basilica we see today began to come into existence at the beginning of the 16th century. Pope Julius II decided to demolish the older structure and commission a new one. Work on the new basilica continued for the next 150 years. (Fun fact: Julius II originally intended the new St Peter’s to house his grand tomb. Julius’ final remains are in fact in the Vatican, his grave noted only by a simple marker. His grand funeral monument remained unfinished, and part of it – famous above all for Michelangelo’s sublime Moses – is in San Pietro in Vincoli.)
One of the things you will notice if you compare these pictures with those of the other basilicas is the sheer number of people in St Peter’s at any one time. We had pretty much free rein with the other churches, but with St Peter’s we were constantly jostled by individuals and tour groups. Admission to the cathedral is free, but you usually have to wait in a long queue that snakes through the piazza at pretty much any time of day.
The basilica itself is in the form of a Greek cross with a massive dome over the central axis. (You can climb up to the top of the dome, from which you have magnificent views. But it’s 304 steps up and 304 steps down, so you need to be in good shape to do it!) The dome itself was conceived by Michelangelo, though completed only after his death.
The interior of St Peter’s is on a monumental scale. While it is decidedly impressive, we preferred a couple of the other basilicas to it. It seems to us too papal, too monumental, too much designed to be a symbol of political power, rather than a statement of faith. Among its many artistic treasures, two for us at least stand out. One is Michelangelo’s Pietà, famous of course but no less impressive for that. Both in composition and execution, it remains a marvel. You used to be able to get close to it but since the assault on the statue in 1972, it now stands behind bullet-proof glass, at a greater distance.
The other is Bernini’s baldacchino, standing directly under the intersection of the basilica’s two aisles. The baldacchino is a four-postered canopy that stands over the high altar. Only the pope, or someone to whom he has given permission, can say Mass at that altar. Other such canopies exist, but Bernini’s design is immediately arresting, not least for the curved, rather than straight, columns. Bernini wasn’t the first to use these, but the grandeur of his conception of the whole is truly magnificent. (We’ll have more to say about Bernini in a future post.)
Even if (as with us) you’re not moved by any religious feelings at St Peter’s, it’s hard not to marvel at the design, sheer scale, and decor of the place. In that sense, it serves as a good symbol of the many centuries of the Papacy as a political power.
