Architecture features

2.  The Saint Peter’s Church, also called St. Peter’s
Basilica is a late Renaissance church within
Vatican City. It is Europe’s largest Christian
church.
 It is the second church to stand above the crypt
(tomb) believed to hold the body of Saint Peter,
the first pope.
 St. Peter’s is built in the shape of a cross.
INTRODUCTION

3.  There has been a church on this site since the
4th century.
 Construction of the present basilica, over the
old Constantinian basilica, began on 18 April
1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626.
 As a work of architecture, it is regarded as the
greatest building of its age.

5. •The façade designed by Maderno, is 114.69
metres (376.3 ft) wide and 45.55 metres
(149.4 ft) high.
•It is built of travertine stone, with a giant
order of Corinthian columns and a central
pediment rising in front of a
tall attic surmounted by thirteen statues:
Christ flanked by eleven of
the Apostles (except Peter, whose statue is left
of the stairs) and John the Baptist.

6.  The church was given an impressive setting by Gian
Lorenzo Bernini, one of its architects.
 An avenue almost 1.5 kilometers long leads from the
Tiber River to the Piazza Di San Pietro (Square Of St.
Peter), a large open space in front of the church.
 A red granite obelisk (shaft) stands 26 meters high in
the piazza’s centre. It was brought to Rome from Egypt
about A.D. 37, and was moved to the piazza in 1586.
 The Piazza which was completed in 1667, contains two
fountains and two colonnades (rows of columns)
arranged in semicircles on opposite sides of the Piazza.

8.  The interior of the church is decorated in Baroque style.
 Bernini, created many of its famous features in the 1650s.
 He built the elaborate bronze baldacchino (canopy) over
the main alter, which stands beneath the dome. It closes
the extremely long sweep of the nave and is 95 Ft. high.
 As may be seen in the accompanying plan, the four
principal divisions of the basilica extend from
the dome and are connected with each other by passages
behind the dome piers.
 To the right and the left of the nave lie the smaller and
lower aisles, the right of which is bordered by four
lateral chapels, the left by three chapels and the passage to
the roof.

9.  The general decoration consists of colored marble
incrustations, stucco
figures, rich gilding, mosaic decoration, and marble
figures on the pilasters, ceiling, and walls.
 The paneling of the pavement in geometric figures is of
colored marble after the designs of Giacomo della
Porta and Bernini.
 Beneath it is the Confession of St. Peter, where the
body of the Prince of Apostles reposes – the tomb of St.
Peter’s.

10. • Major axis of the piazza - 1115.4 feet.
• Minor axis of the piazza - 787.3 feet.
• Vestibule of the basilica - 232.9 feet wide, 44.2 deep, and 91.8
high.
• Height and width of the nave - 151.5 feet and 90.2 feet
respectively.
• Entire length of the basilica including the vestibule - 693.8 feet.
• From the pavement of the church (measured from the
Confession) to the oculus of the lantern resting upon the dome
the height - 404.8 feet;
• To the summit of the cross surmounting the lantern - 434.7 feet.
• The measurements of the interior diameter of the dome vary
somewhat, being generally computed at 137.7 feet, thus
exceeding the dome of the Pantheon by a span of 4.9 feet.
•The surface area of St. Peter's is 163,182.2 sq. feet.