St. Peter’s is the greatest church in Christendom. Built on the memory and grave of the first pope, St. Peter, this is where the grandeur of ancient Rome became the grandeur of Christianity.
On this visit, we’ll see the spacious square, the cavernous interior, the places where Peter was crucified and buried, and Michelangelo’s Pieta. We’ll peek at where the pope lives, and talk about the Vatican today.
The Pope’s World
The Vatican is the home of the pope, and St. Peter’s is where so many important events take place. Find the balcony in the middle of the facade. It’s the one over the central doorway. This is where the pope appears on formal occasions like Christmas or Easter. He pronounces a blessing in Latin to the “Urbi et orbi” – to the city and the world.
Rising up behind Bernini’s colonnade is the pope’s official residence. His suite of rooms is on the top floor. The last window on the right is his bedroom. To the left of that window is the window of his study. It’s from that window that the pope often appears to greet the masses – usually Sundays at noon. On those days, the study window is draped with a long banner. the windows open, and the pope waves to the faithful assembled below in this square. Then he gives a short sermon, says a traditional prayer in Latin called the Angelus, and blesses the crowd with a wave of his hand. The whole thing lasts about 15 minutes. If you want to see it, you don’t need a ticket – just show up at the square.
The pope also gives audiences on Wednesday mornings. These take place right here in the square. Chairs are set up for thousands of spectators. Then the pope rides in on his pope-mobile. He weaves through the adoring crowds and makes his way up to the stage. The stage is set up right in front of the church, on top of the steps. From there, the pope gives a short sermon and blessing. To get a seat for this appearance, you must have an advance ticket.
The Sistine Chapel can be seen just to the right of the church’s facade – the small gray-brown building with the triangular roof, topped by an antenna. If you squint, you might be able to see the tiny pimple along the roofline midway up the left side is a chimney. That’s where the famous smoke signals announce the election of each new pope.
With these places in mind, picture the scene when a new pope is selected. When a pope dies – or retires – the tiny, peaceful Vatican stirs from its timeless slumber and becomes headline news. St. Peter’s becomes ground zero as the focus of the world’s attention. Millions of people converge on Vatican City, and hundreds of millions across the globe follow it on TV.
The deceased pope’s body is displayed in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica. Thousands of pilgrims line up here on the square waiting for one last look at their pope. The line often stretches all the way down Via della Conciliazione. On the day of the funeral, hundreds of thousands of mourners and dignitaries gather in the square. The pope’s coffin is carried out to the square, where a eulogy is given.
Most popes are laid to rest in the crypt below St. Peter’s Basilica, near the tomb of St. Peter and other popes. Especially popular popes – such as St. John Paul II or John XXIII – eventually find a place upstairs, inside St. Peter’s itself.
After the funeral, the attention shifts to the Sistine Chapel. Over a hundred cardinals, who represent Catholics around the globe, descend on Rome to elect a new pope. The crimson-robed cardinals are stripped of their mobile phones, given a vow of secrecy, and locked inside the Sistine Chapel. This begins the “conclave (from the Latin “cum clave,” with key). Meanwhile, outside, people assemble in the square and keep an eye on that famous chimney. As the cardinals cast votes, their ballots are burned in a stove inside the chapel. The smoke rises up and out the tiny chimney. Black smoke means they have yet to agree on a new pope.
Finally, the anxious crowd looks up to see a puff of white smoke emerging from the chapel. the bells in St. Peter’s clock towers ring out gloriously. The crowd cheers, and Romans watching on TV hail taxis to hurry to the square.
Then comes the official announcement from the balcony of St. Peter’s. The newly elected pope steps up and raises his hands, as thousands chant “Viva il Papa.” A cardinal introduces him to the crowd, announcing his newly chosen name. “Brothers and sisters,” the cardinal says in Latin, “habemus papam.” “We have a pope.”
Vatican City
Vatican City is an independent country, consisting of about 100 acres – most of it lies behind and to the right of St. Peter’s. On the square are two entrances to Vatican City – one of the left of the church’s facade, and one to the right. Guarding these border crossings are mercenary guards from Switzerland.
While their colorful uniforms were designed in the 20th century, they were inspired by the style worn by mercenary troops back in the 1500s when the guard was founded. The blue, red and yellow colors were the colors of the Medici family (from where four popes of that day came).
The tiny, powerful Vatican has its own security force, helipad, and mini-train station. Its version of the euro coin has a picture of the pope on it – they’re so rare they’re snatched up right from the mint by collectors. The Vatican also has its own radio station. It also has its own postal service and stamps – in fact, there’s a post office to the left of the church.
The pope is both the religious and secular leader of Vatican City. For centuries, locals referred to him as “King Pope.” Italy and the Vatican didn’t always have good relations. While Italy was unified in 1870, the pope didn’t recognize Italy as a country until 1929, when the pope and Mussolini finally signed the Lateran Pact. This treaty agreed that the Vatican was an independent nation, including a few extra territories which were outlying churches.
Small but politically powerful, the Vatican is the religious capital of over a billion Roman Catholics. If you’re Protestant, check your Reformation sword at the door. Atheists, suspend your disbelief. Things are much more enjoyable here if you become a temporary Catholic, if only for your visit. Seriously, your time in St. Peters can be an awe-inspiring and beautiful experience, regardless of your faith (or lack of faith), if you accept.. and respect… things on Catholic terms as you visit.
The Atrium
Made from the melted-down bronze of the original door of old St. Peter’s, it dates from around 1450 and is considered the first Renaissance work in Rome. It’s only opened on special occasions. The panels feature Jesus and Mary and the top, Paul and Peter in the middle, and (at the bottom)how those saints were martyred-Paul was decapitated and Peter crucified upside-down.
The far-right entrance is a Holy Door, opened only during Holy Years. Every 25 years, on Christmas Eve, the pope knocks three times with a silver hammer and the door opens, welcoming pilgrims to pass through. For Holy Year 2000, Pope John Paul II opened this door on Christmas Eve and bricked it up again with a ceremonial trowel a year later, to wait another 24 years. Above the door is a commemorate plaque that says that Pope “Ionnes Paulus II” opened the door in the year “MM” – 2000 – and closed it in “MMI.” Although Holy Years officially come every 25 years, Pope Francis declared the year 2016 as an “Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy” Holy Year. So, this Holy door was once again prepared, to welcome an extraordinary horde of pilgrims.
The Nave
The church is huge. It is a riot of marble, gold, stucco, mosaics; columns of stone, and pillars of light. As the symbol of global Catholicism, this church is appropriately big. Size before beauty: The golden window at the far end is two football fields away. The dove in that window is wider than you are tall. The bronze canopy over the altar is seven stories tall. The church covers six acres.
Look at the pillars that line the main hall. Those statues of babies at the base are adult-size. Overhead, the lettering in the gold band along the top of the pillars is seven feet high. This church has a capacity of 60,000 standing worshippers (the equivalent 1,200 tour groups). Birds fly around and hardly know they’re inside.
The church is huge and it feels huge, but everything is designed to make it seem smaller and more intimate than it really is. For example, if we look at the first pillar on the right, the statue of St. Teresa near the bottom is 15 feet tall. The statue above her near the top of the pillar looks the same size, but is actually six feet taller, giving the impression that it’s not too far away. Similarly, the fancy bronze canopy over the altar makes the great height of the dome seem smaller.
Looking down the nave, think of all the history. First, we get a sense of the splendor of ancient Rome that was carried on by the Catholic Church. The floor plan is based on the ancient Roman basilica, or law-court building, with a central aisle (or nave) flanked by two side aisles. In fact, many of the stones used to build St. Peter’s were scavenged from the ruined law courts of ancient Rome.
This round purple slab of porphyry stone – the color of ancient Roman officials – is the spot in Old St. Peter’s where, on Christmas night in AD 800, the pope crowned the French king Charlemagne as “Holy Roman Emperor.” Even in the Dark Ages, when Rome was virtually abandoned and visitors reported that the city had more thieves and wolves than decent people, its imperial legacy made it a fitting place to symbolically establish a briefly united Europe.
During the Renaissance, New St. Peter’s was very expensive to build and decorate. The popes financied it by selling “indulgences” – these allowed Europe’s rich to buy forgiveness for their sins. This kind of corruption inspired an obscure German monk named Martin Luther to rebel and start the Protestant Reformation. In response, St. Peter’s became a symbol of the Catholic “Counter”-Reformation. Its ornate, Baroque-style interior served as propaganda, impressing followers with the authority of the Church, and giving them a glimpse of the heaven that awaited the faithful, the obedient… and the generous.
There are plaques in the floor, running straight up the center of the nave. These show where the next biggest churches of the world would end if they were placed inside St. Peter’s. We passed by St. Paul’s Cathedral in so-called “Londinense,” or London.
Here is the Washington Cathedral.
Think about the thousands upon thousands of man-hours it took to build this enormous structure. All in all, it was under construction for 120 years (from 1506 to 1626). One of its architects was the great Michaelangelo, who topped it with a dome.
Michelangelo’s Church
Standing here at the heart of the church is a good place to talk about the church’s architectural footprint. The church took 120 years to build, and the blueprint changed and evolved with each generation. The first architect, Donato Bramante, intended the church to have four equal-length arms, each radiating out from the altar. But after Bramante died, the project languished for decades.
In 1546, Michelangelo was 71 years old when the pope persuaded him to take over the unfinished church project and cap it with a dome. He’s already proven himself as a sculptor (doing the Pieta’ for Old St. Peter’s) and as a painter, in the Sistine Chapel. For this Renaissance man, architecture was the next step. Michelangelo’s plan was to put a grand dome over Bramante’s original “Greek Cross” floor plan. In optimistic Renaissance times, this symmetrical arrangement symbolized perfection – both the orderliness of the created world and the goodness of man (who was created in God’s image). Michelangelo agreed to take over the project on three terms; that he would not be paid, that he would be given an army of workers to get as much completed in his remaining years as possible, and that the original Greek Cross plan would be honored. But after his death, the Church, struggling against Protestants, opted for a different plan designed to impress the world with its grandeur. The architect Maderno doubled the size of the nave so twice as many people could take part in the over-the-top religious spectacles of the Baroque period.
Michelangelo’s Dome
The dome soars higher than a football field on end, 430 feet from the door of the cathedral to the top of the lantern. It glows with light from its windows, and the blue and gold mosaics create a cool, solemn atmosphere. In this majestic vision of heaven (which, by the way, was not painted by Michelangelo), we see Jesus, Mary, and saints – they’re in the ring just above the windows. Rising above them are more rings of angels, and, way up in the ozone, is God the Father – without binoculars, he’s just a blur of blue and red.
Michelangelo began work on the dome in 1546. When he died nearly twenty years later, he’d completed only the drum of the dome – that’s the cylindrical base, up to the windows flanked by half-columns. The next generation of architects completed Michelangelo’s vision, guided carefully by his blueprints.
Standing under the dome, I took a moment to listen to the hum of visitors echoing through St. Peter’s and reflect on our place in the cosmos: half animal, half angel, stretched between heaven and earth, born to live only a short while, a bubble of foam on a great cresting wave of humanity… But I digress.
Peter’s Tomb
Peter- the disciple of Jesus, who brought Christianity to Rome – lies buried directly beneath the altar. Although the actual tomb is not visible, there are lots of reminders of Peter all around you. Start by looking back up at the dome.
The base of the dome is ringed with a gold banner telling us in massive blue letters why this church is so important. According to Catholics, Peter was selected by Jesus to head the church. The banner in Latin quotes form the Bible where Jesus says to him, “Tu es Petrus… You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church, and to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” (That’s Matthew 16:18. In fact, every quote from Jesus to Peter found in the Bible is written out in seven-foot-tall letters that continue around the entire church.)
Peter was the first bishop of Rome. His prestige and that of the city itself made this bishopric more illustrious than all others, and Peter’s authority has supposedly passed in an unbroken chain to each succeeding bishop of Rome – that is, the 250-or-so popes that followed.
Under the dome, under the bronze canopy, under the altar, some 23 feet under the church’s marble floor, rest the bonds of St. Peter, the “rock” upon which this particular church was built. You can’t see the actual tomb, but go to the railing and look down into the small, lighted niche below the altar. There you’ll see a box containing bishops’ shawls – a symbol of how Peter’s authority spread to the other churches. Peter’s tomb (though not visible) is just below this box. You can’t visit Peter’s tomb unless you book a special tour months in advance.
Does the tomb really contain the bones of Jesus’ apostle? According to a papal pronouncement: definitely maybe. The traditional site of his tomb was sealed up when Old St. Peter’s was built on it in AD 326, and it remained sealed until 1940, when it was opened for archaeological study. Bones were found, dated from the first century, of a robust man who died in old age. His body was wrapped in expensive cloth. Various inscriptions and graffiti in the tomb indicate that second-and third-century visitors thought this was Peter’s tomb. Does that mean that it’s really Peter? Who am I to disagree with the pope? Definitely maybe.
Look closely at the niche. If you line up the lighted niche with the cross on the altar and with the dove in the window, you’ll notice that the niche is just off-center compared with the rest of the church. Why? Because Michelangelo built the church around the traditional location of the tomb, not the actual location – about two feet away – discovered by modern archaeology. I say, “Close enough.”
The Statue of Peter
This bronze statue of Peter is one of only a handful of pieces of art that was in the earlier church. In one hand he holds the keys, the symbol of the authority given him by Christ, while with the other hand he blesses us. Peter’s wearing the toga of a Roman senator. It may be that the original statue actually was of a senator and that the head and keys were added later to make it Peter. Regardless, most subsequent paintings and statues of Peter have these same motifs – keys, beard, curly hair, and strong build.
According to the Bible, Peter was a fisherman who was chosen by Christ to catch sinners, instead, Peter had human weaknesses that endeared him to Christians. He was the one who tried to walk on water but failed; he impetuously cut off a man’s ear when the soldiers came to arrest Christ; and he even denied knowing Jesus to save his own skin. But Jesus chose him anyway to be his “rock” (the name Peter is a nickname that means rock). After Jesus’ death, legends say Peter came to the wicked city of Rome to spread the gospel of love. He may have been imprisoned in the Mamertine Prison (near the Forum) and stories say he had a vision of Christ along the Appian Way – Quo Vadis, and all that. Eventually, Peter’s preaching offended the authorities, and he was arrested, crucified by Nero, and buried here.
Looking back at my first picture, notice that the statue’s big right toe has been worn smooth by the lips and hands of centuries of adoring pilgrims.
Pope John XXIII
Pope John, who reigned from 1958 to 1963, is nicknamed “the good pope.” He’s best known for initiating the landmark Vatican II Council in the early 60’s that instituted major reforms. These reforms brought the Church into the modern age. That council allowed Mass to be conducted, not just in traditional Latin, but in local languages that people actually spoke – English, Italian, Spanish… whatever. Also, lay people were invited to participate more in services, Church leadership underwent some healthy self-criticism, and the Council championed an ecumenical spirit that reached out to Christians of Protestant faiths. Pope John was a populist, referring to people as “brothers and sisters”… a phrase still popular among popes today. In the year 2000, John was up beatification – a stop on the way to sainthood. During the process, Church authorities checked his body and – it was surprisingly fresh.
So they moved it upstairs and put it behind glass, allowing Catholics to always remember this man known as “the good pope.” BTW, along with St. John Paul II, the good pope also recently became a saint… Saint John XXIII. Pope John XXIII initiated some changes, but he was succeeded by a more traditional pope. Then came the ecumenical John Paul II, and the pendulum swung back again.
With the next pope, Benedict XVI, the pendulum swung back to the conservative side. But then Benedict stunned the world by taking the novel step of retiring from office, rather than remaining until his death. No pope had done that for 600 years. The retirement allowed Pope Francis to succeed him… and the pendulum swung once again. Each 21st-century pope has been influenced in some way by the changes introduced by Pope John XXIII. Each walks the delicate tightrope of defending centuries-old Catholic doctrine, while responding to a changing world.
The Main Altar and Bernini’s Baldacchino
This main altar is used only when the pope himself says Mass. He sometimes conducts the Sunday morning service when he’s in town, an event worth experiencing.
The relatively tiny altar would be lost in this enormous church if it weren’t for the seven-story-tall bronze canopy which “extends” the altar upward and reduces the perceived distance between floor and ceiling. The canopy was designed in the 1600s by one of my favorite – Bernini – the Michelangelo of the Baroque era, and the man most responsible for the interior decoration of this church. Bernini’s corkscrew columns echo the marble ones that once surrounded the altar in Old St. Peter’s. Some of the bronze used here was taken and melted down from the ancient Pantheon.
Look at the marble base of the columns. We see a shield with three bees on it, the symbol of the Barberini family, who commissioned the work and ordered that bronze-scavenging raid on the Pantheon. As the saying went, when it came to plundering the wonders of ancient Rome, “What the barbarians didn’t do, the Barberini did.”
I didn’t quite capture this in my pictures, but if you walk clockwise around the canopy you’ll notice the female faces on the marble bases, about eye level above the bees. Apparently, someone in the Barberini family was pregnant during the making of the canopy, and the pope asked Bernini to chronicle the events. As you walk around the columns, the mother’s face changes as she goes through the various stages of childbirth. It looks like it was a difficult labor… the woman almost died.
Now marvel at some other works by Bernini. The flamboyant genius remade this church – and the city, for that matter – in the Baroque style. He did St. Peter’s Square, of course. He also designed this entire area around the altar as a kind of “theater” for holy spectacles. Looking around – Bernini did -in addition to the bronze canopy:
- The stained glass dove window, plus the bronze work and statues around it.
- He did one of the four statues surrounding the altar. His is the guy carrying the spear – the one singing “The hills are alive…”
- And he did the balconies above the four statues. These incorporate some of the actual corkscrew columns from Old St. Peter’s. These original corkscrew columns were said to have been looted by the Romans from the Temple of Herod in Jerusalem.
All in all, at St. Peter’s, Bernini gave an impressive unity to an amazing variety of pillars, windows, statues, and chapels. No wonder Bernini is called the Father of Baroque.
The Apse
Bernini’s dove window shines above the smaller front altar used for everyday services. The Holy Spirit, in the form of a six-foot-high dove, pours sunlight onto the faithful through the alabaster windows. During a service, the effect is of real sunlight become artificial rays of gold that reflect off swirling gold clouds, angels, and winged babies. Mix in some real clouds from the incense, and this becomes the epitome of Baroque – an ornate, mixed-media ensemble designed to fill the viewer with awe.
Beneath the dove is the centerpiece of this structure, the so-called “Throne of Peter.” Despite the name, this oak chair was actually built in medieval times for a king. Subsequently, it was encrusted with tradition and encased in bronze by Bernini as a symbol of papal authority. Statues of four early Church Fathers support the chair. This is symbol of how bishops should support the pope in troubled time – like the Counter-Reformation.
Remember that St. Peter’s is a church, not a museum. In the apse, Mass is said daily at 5:00 pm. Pilgrims, tourists, and Roman citizens alike are welcome. Also, wooden confessional booths are available for Catholics to tell their sins to a listening ear and receive forgiveness and peace of mind. The faithful renew their faith, and the faithless gain inspiration. Look at the light streaming through the windows, turn and gaze up into the dome, and quietly contemplate your deity… or lack of one.
Peter’s Crucifixion Site
This depiction of Peter’s crucifixion marks the exact spot (according to tradition) where Peter was killed nearly 2,000 years ago. Peter had come to the world’s greatest city to preach Jesus’ message of love to the pagan, often hostile Romans. During the reign of Nero, he was arrested and brought here to Nero’s Circus so all Rome could witness his execution. When the authorities told Peter he was to be crucified just like his Lord, Peter said “I’m not worthy,” and he insisted they nail him on the cross upside-down. After he was crucified on this spot, he was buried just a few dozen yards away, where the main altar stands today.
The Romans were actually quite tolerant of other religions, but they required their conquered peoples to worship the Roman emperor as a god. For most religions, this was no problem, but monotheistic Christians refused to worship the emperor even when burned alive, crucified, or thrown to the lions. Their bravery, optimism in suffering, and message of love struck a chord among slaves and members of the lower classes. The religion started by a poor carpenter grew despite occasional persecutions by fanatical emperors like Nero. In three short centuries, Christianity went from a small Jewish sect in Jerusalem to being the official religion of the world’s greatest empire.
By the way, this “painting” of Peter is not a painting at all. Smoke and humidity would damage real paintings. So, like virtually all the others in the church, it’s actually made a mosaic copy made from thousands of colored chips the size of your little fingernail.
The Dome and Other Sights
As we make our way to Michelangelo’s Pieta, take note of a few more sightseeing options. First, near the main altar is the entrance to the Crypt beneath the church. Down in the Crypt are the foundations of Old St. Peter’s and tombs of many popes.
But be warned: this is a one-way route that will eventually take you out of the basilica, so it’s best done when you’re ready to leave the building.
Here is Raphael’s famous Transfiguration. Like all the other so-called “paintings” in the church, it’s a mosaic copy of the original which is now in the Vatican Museum.
Michelangelo’s Pieta (1499)
Michelangelo was 24-years-old when he completed this Pieta of Mary with the dead body of Christ taken from the cross. It was Michelangelo’s first major commission (by the French ambassador to the Vatican), don for the Holy Year in 1500.
Pieta means “pity.” In art, a Pieta’ always depicts Mary holding the dead body of her son, Jesus. Michelangelo, with his total mastery of the real world, captures the sadness of the moment. Mary cradles her crucified son in her lap. Christ’s lifeless right arm droops down, letting us know how heavy his corpse is. The smoothness of his skin is accentuated by the rough folds in Mary’s robe. Mary tilts her head down, looking tenderly at her dead son. Her left hand turns upward, asking, “How could they do this to you?”
Michelangelo didn’t think of sculpting as creating a figure, but as simply freeing the God-made figure already in the marble. He’s launch himself into a project like this with an inspired passion, chipping away to find what God put inside.
Christ’s bunched-up shoulder and rigor-mortis legs show that Michelangelo learned well from his studies of cadavers. but realistic as this work is, its true power lies in the subtle “unreal” features. Life-size Christ looks childlike compared with larger-than-life Mary. Unnoticed at first, this makes a subconscious impression of Mary enfolding Jesus in her maternal love. Mary – the mother of a 33-year-old man – looks like a teenager, emphasizing how Mary was the eternally youthful “handmaiden” of the Lord, always serving Him, even at this moment of supreme sacrifice. Mary accepts God’s will, even if means giving up her son.
Michelangelo’s statue is a solid pyramid of maternal kindness. Yet within this, Christ’s body tilts diagonally down to the right and Mary’s hem flows with it. Subconsciously, we feel the weight of this dead God sliding from her lap to the ground.
On May 23, 1972, a madman with a hammer entered St. Peter’s and began hacking away at the Pieta’. The damage was repaired, but that’s why there’s now a shield of bulletproof glass.
This is Michelangelo’s only signed work. The story goes that he overheard some pilgrims praising his Pieta’, but saying it was done by a second-rate sculptor from a lesser city. Michelangelo was so enraged he grabbed his chisel and chipped an inscription in the ribbon running down Mary’s chest. It said “This was made by Michelangelo Buonarroti of Florence.”
To the right of the Pieta’, we see a gray patch of gray concrete with a gold cross. This is the inside of the Holy Door that we saw earlier. It won’t be opened until Christmas Eve of 2024 – the dawn of the next Jubilee Year. If there’s a prayer in you, ask that the next time this door is opened, St. Peter’s will no longer need security checks or bulletproof glass.