Experience the Basilica

The Altar of the Confessio

The Confessio is the sacred space that opens up in front of the main altar of the basilica, enabling the tomb of Saint Peter to be seen from above.

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The Cathedra of Saint Peter

The “Cathedra Sancti Petri Apostoli” is traditionally considered to be the episcopal throne of Saint Peter: an ancient wooden throne, symbol of the Petrine primacy and the Pope’s magisterium, with ivory plaques depicting the labours of Hercules and with friezes, again in ivory, dating from the Carolingian age (9th century).

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The Tomb of Saint Peter

The tomb of Saint Peter is located beneath the main altar of the Vatican Basilica.

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The Necropolis

The Vatican Necropolis is located below the level of the Vatican Grottoes, at a depth of between three and eleven metres in relation to the floor of the central nave of the basilica.

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The Vatican Grottoes

The Vatican Grottoes are located on the lower level of Saint Peter’s Basilica, and consist of a system of vaults built between 1590 and 1591 to support the floor of the Renaissance building.

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The Basilica

On 18 April 1506, the Saturday after Easter, Pope Julius II (1503-1513) laid the first stone of the new Saint Peter’s Basilica on the site of the present-day (south-west) pillar of Saint Veronica, which at the time stood outside the old Constantinian and medieval church, to the left of the apse.

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The Dome

The dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica was conceived and built up to the drum by Michelangelo Buonarroti and brought to completion, after the death of the Master, by the architect Giacomo della Porta, who worked there alongside Domenico Fontana from 1588 to 1590, raising the dome in just 22 months thanks to the tireless work of 800 labourers.

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The Museum

The “Treasury Museum of Saint Peter’s Basilica” consists of the display of what is known as the Treasury of Saint Peter.

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The Square

Saint Peter’s Square was designed by the architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, at the behest of Pope Alexander VII. It was completed in 1667, after eleven years of intense and onerous work.

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The Chapter of Saint Peter

The Chapter of Saint Peter is a college of clergy, established around the second half of the eleventh century, with the task of ensuring the liturgical and sacramental care of Saint Peter’s Basilica.

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The Fabric of Saint Peter

From the laying of the foundation stone on 18 April 1506, when Pope Julius II began the rebuilding of the new Vatican Basilica, to the present day, the Fabric of Saint Peter is the institution of the Holy See entrusted with the reconstruction and later the conservation, maintenance and use of the basilica built on the burial place of the Apostle Peter.

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The Vicariate

Near the offices of the Fabric of Saint Peter is the seat of the Vatican Vicariate. Its origin dates back to 1929 when, after the constitution of Vatican City State, Pope Pius XI wished to distinguish Vatican territory from the jurisdiction of the Vicariate of Rome

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The Parish

The circumstances that led to the erection of a parish of Saint Peter’s Basilica date back to the sixteenth century when, in all likelihood, it was necessary to reorganize the neighbourhoods close to the “Leonine City”.

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The Sacristy

The Vatican Sacristy is connected to the Basilica by two ambulacra: the first is reserved to the clergy and leads to the Chapel of the Choir

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The Basilica Archives

Well before the birth of the Vatican Chapter, the care of Saint Peter’s Basilica was entrusted to the monks of four nearby monasteries (Santi Giovanni e Paolo, San Stefano Maggiore, San Martino, Santo Stefano Minore).

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The Mosaic Studio

The history of the Vatican Mosaic Studio dates from the beginning of the sixteenth century, when Pope Gregory XIII Boncompagni decided to entrust the painter Girolamo Muziano with the mosaic decoration of the dome of the Gregorian Chapel of the Vatican Basilica (1578-1580).

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The School of Arts and Crafts of the Fabric of Saint Peter

The School of Arts and Crafts of the Fabric of Saint Peter in the Vatican was conceived and structured to restore vitality and authority to the craft tradition, which is not only a precious heritage of the past but also an asset for present society to offer to future times.

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Sanpietrini Staff

The work of the Fabric of Saint Peter takes place on a daily basis due primarily to the work of the Sanpietrini staff, who handle the reception, surveillance, cleaning and maintenance of the Vatican Basilica.

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The Archconfraternity of the Blessed Sacrament

Among the entities of devotion and hospitality closely linked to Saint Peter’s Basilica, an important role is played by the Archconfraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, established in 1540 on the initiative of the Chapter of Saint Peter, for the devotion and worship of the Blessed Sacrament in the Basilica.

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The Pietà of Saint Peter’s

A sculpture of superhuman beauty and perfection, sculpted in 1498 by a very young Michelangelo – he was just twenty-three years old – commissioned by the French Cardinal Jean de Bilhères Lagraulas for his tomb in the Chapel of the King of France in Saint Peter’s, a no longer existing chapel that was located on the southern flank of the ancient Basilica.

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Useful Links:

The Holy See Vatican Museums Vatican State Fratelli Tutti Foundation

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