Saint Peter's Cathedral (or Basilica) was inaugurated in Rome in a.d. 396, by pope Sylvester. It had been built by Constantine on Saint Peter's grave. Today's altar lies exactly on Saint Peter's tomb, where his relics are. The Rome Cathedral we see today was started in 1506 and completed 120 years later. Many famous Renaissance architects contributed to its construction, Bramante among them. In 1546 pope Paul III appointed Michelangelo Buonarroti, already in his sixties, as official architect in charge. Michelangelo designed the greek cross plan of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, which was then completed by Della Porta, who designed the dome, and by Carlo Maderno, who built the facade. Saint Peter's Cathedral was consecrated on Nov. 18, 1626.
From Saint Peter's portico you enter the main entrance hall, with its five doors. On the right you can see the Holy Door, which is opened only every 25 years, in Jubilee or Holy years.
Saint Peter's Cathedral , located in Rome, Italy, has very remarkable dimensions: it is 230 m. long, the vault is 38 meters high, and the wings of the Dove of the Holy Spirit above Bernini's Baldacchino are 1,4 m wide.
In the first chapel on the right there is the cathedral's most beautiful sculpture: the "Pietà" (Mary Lamenting the Dead Christ ) by Michelangelo. This is Michelangelo's masterpiece, finished when he was only 23 years old, perfect in the figure's proportions as well as in their expression.
On the band across the Virgin's breast, Michelangelo carved his name. This is one of the few sculptures he finished and the only one he signed.

Under one of the dome pillars you will find the statue of Saint Peter (XIII century): note how the saint's feet are consumed by the believers' kisses.
The huge bronze sculpture, the Baldacchino (a canopy as high as a five-storey building) was made by Bernini.

In Rome, at Easter time, the Saints' relics are shown to the public: Saint Andrew's skull, the fragments of the Holy Cross, Veronica's shroud and a fragment of the lance used by a Roman soldier to hit Christ's chest .

The main altar is used only by the Pope, as He only can celebrate the Mass there.

The area behind the altar is used for solemn celebrations such as beatification, canonisation or for the coronation of a new Pope.

Chapel Clementina: it contains a monument to Pius VII, by the Danish artist Thorvaldsen, and in Saint Peter's Cathedral this is the only work of art made by a non-catholic artist.
In this Chapel, a mosaic reproduces the Transfiguration by Raphael (the original is on exhibit in the Pinacoteca Vaticana).

The Chapel of the Choir: here the Choir of the Cappella Giuliana sings during the Sunday Mass.

Chapel of the Battistero with its beautiful porphyry Christening basin which was probably made with part of the sarcophagus of Emperor Adrian.
In the "Porta della Morte" (Door of Death) of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, near the exit, you can see this sculpture by Giacomo Manzù, representing the death of Christ and the Virgin.

Vatican City Plan

The Vatican Museums are enclosed inside Vatican City walls in Rome, Italy.
A number of buildings inside the Holy City are open to visitors and form the complex called "Vatican Museums". The Museums entrance is located on the north side of Vatican City.

The Vatican Museums are comprised of:

EGYPTIAN MUSEUM
It consists of a number of Egyptian findings, including sarcophagi and mummies, seals, assirian basreliefs and other ancient works of art.

CHIARAMONTI MUSEUM
Named after its founder, Pope Pius VII (Chiaramonti) this section of the Vatican Museums includes a series of statues, busts, reliefs from Greek and Roman sculpting art.

MUSEUM OF POPES CLEMENT XIV AND PIUS VI
Inside the Belvedere Palazzetto (other Building which forms the Vatican Museums complex) visitors may find Greek and Roman sculptures like the world-wide famous group of Laocoon, the statue of Hermes and other beatiful sculptures.

GREGORIAN MUSEUM OF ETRUSCAN ART
Named after its founder, Pope Gregory XIV, it houses the works from the excavations in southern Etruria. Etruscans were pre-Roman populations which lived in central Italy.

ANTIQUARIUM ROMANUM
Comprised of 3 small rooms, the Antiquarium has mostly minor Roman art objects.

VASE COLLECTION
Mostly ceramics vases and vessels with Greek and Etruscan black representations.

THE BIGA ROOM
The "Biga" (which sounds like double in Italian) was the two-horse chariot used by Roman Centurions and its represented in this room by a magnificient statue. It dates back to the first century B.C.

GALLERY OF THE CANDELABRA

GALLERY OF THE TAPESTRIES

GALLERY OF THE MAPS
This incredible Gallery is a long hallway with 40 geographical maps painted on the walls, representing old geography locations and territories.

APARTMENT OF POPE SAINT PIUS V

SOBIESKI ROOM
Named after the painting on the north wall which depicts John III Sobieski, King of Poland, winning over the Turks near Vienna. This work was painted by Jan Matejko (1883).

ROOM OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
Inside the Vatican Museums complex, in the Borgia Tower, this room contains frescoes about the mistery of the Immaculate Conception.

RAPHAEL'S ROOMS AND LOGGIAS
The four rooms, part of the residence of Pope Julius II, were named after the author of its frescoes, Raphael (Raffaello). Raphael, having worked for 10 years, completed only 3 rooms before his death, and therefore the fourth room is still unfinished.

COLLECTION OF MODERN RELIGIOUS ART
This collection inclueds donations to the Vatican Museums by privates, by artist themselves and by otyher institutions. Housed in 55 rooms, these works are from hundreds of authors, among which are: Auguste Rodin, Renato Guttuso, Marc Chagall, Paul Gauguin, Maurice Utrillo,Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Georges Braque, Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Giorgio De Chirico, Pablo Picasso, Diego Velasquez, etc.

SISTINE CHAPEL
Based on a simple and rectangular plan, it houses one of the most famous works of Michelangelo: the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, among which are the impressive Last Judgement, Creation of Man and many other frescoes (also by other famous artists).
Please see "Sistine Chapel" page on this site for more info.

VATICAN LIBRARY
The Vatican Library, also called "Vatican Secret Archive" contains an incredible collection of treaties, writings and boogs from the middle-ages onward. It was founded by Pope Nicholas V.

VATICAN PICTURE GALLERY
The Vatican Picture Gallery (Pinacoteca Vaticana in Italian) holds a number of world wide famous paintings by Giotto, Gentile da Fabriano, Beato Angelico, Perugino, Pinturicchio, Leonardo da Vinci, Tiziano, Guercino, and many more.

GREGORIAN MUSEUM OF PROFANE ART
Profane Art is non-religious art and therefore pre-christian works of art. These sections of the Vatican Museums contain Roman copies of Greek originals, Roman sculptures of repubblican and early imperial periods and later Roman sculptures.

CHRISTIAN MUSEUM

MISSIONARY MUSEUM OF ETHNOLOGY
A number of works of art from different non-western civilizations and from different geographical areas which date from before Christ periods to recent time.