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On your trip to Rome, to assure that you see one of the most popular tourist sites, be sure to visit the Basilica di San Pietro which is more commonly known as St. Peter’s Basilica. But when laying out your schedule, understand that you can easily spend an entire day at St. Peter’s and will want to come back to see more of one of the most famous and popular tourist stops in Vatican City.

The heart of the appeal of the site is the legend that Saint Peter himself was buried there even though there is no real proof of that idea. What we do know is that the basilica is located on the spot that was probably the Circus of Nero during the first century AD.

About 1000 years before St. Peter’s was built, the site was dedicated for a basilica by none other than the Christian Roman Emperor Constantine.

Some 1200 years later in the sixteenth century, it was Pope Leo X who diverted funds from his appeal to the masses to go to holy war against the Turks. Those funds were quietly applied to the building of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

But like most large scale construction efforts during this phase in history, it took decades to finish the church in the late 16th century and the project had many architects and was overseen by several Popes before it was done.

St. Peter’s is a tall building even by sixteenth century standards. From the floor to the very tip of the cross on that famous dome above, the basilica towers 445 feet in the air. That dome is a revered part of the Roman skyline and it is an amazing architectural design all by itself. None other than Michelangelo himself designed the great dome and that famous Renaissance artist employed a double-shell design technique that was created by San Gallo.

While Michelangelo become the lead designer of the building in 1546, he never saw it completed before his death. It was another architect, Giacomo della Porta who saw the project through to completion in 1590. That design is so well known and admired by architects that has been copied frequently in famous buildings around the world including the United States Capital Building in Washington.

That dome was so well designed that two centuries passed before stress cracks were found. To correct the problem, four very large chains of iron were attached inside the dome to the pair of shells. If you were to climb the spiral stairs that are still there between the dome shells, you would still see those chains in place.

That magnificent dome is not all there is to St. Peter’s Basilica. The interior space of the basilica covers six acres and it can accommodate 60,000 worshipers. And there have been several occasions where it was called upon to host that many people. The many Popes who have used St. Peter’s to minister to the church have drawn in such crowds.

The outer facade of the basilica is large as well, standing at 148 feet high and 377 feet wide and there are many statues gracing the outside of the building as well.

It is said that over 100 tombs of legendary figures from history are buried inside the halls of St. Peter’s Basilica. One notable example is Sweden’s Queen Christina, who in 1654 gave up her royal post so she could have the freedom to become a Catholic.

There is no question that the most well known and stunning art work inside St. Peter’s is the Pieta by Michelangelo. But we will have to admire it through an insulated glass barrier that was put there after a lunatic tried to destroy the masterpiece with an axe.

From the exterior of the basilica, there are a number of worthwhile historical things to look for.

For example, be on the look out for a number of ancient clocks including one with a bell that dates back to the late 13th century. But an artwork that is hard to miss is a huge Egyptian obelisk on display outside St. Peter’s that dates back to Nero’s Circus where it stood not far away during the same time period.

As is true all over Rome, two wonderful artistic fountains can be found in the square outside St. Peter’s. On the south side is a fountain made by the brilliant artist, Bernini who created it in 1675. Bernini also created the second fountain near the apse of the church, the Triumph of the Chair of Saint Peter which is not to be missed.

A trip to Rome would almost be incomplete without including at least a couple of hours to wander at your leisure taking in the majesty of this amazing display of outstanding architecture from the Renaissance period of history.

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Tags: Travel