The Vatican : Past and Present

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Recommended: Construction of st. peter's basilica

One of the most important and the largest monument and public space is the St. Peter’s Basilica ("St. Peter's Basilica" ). It initially built by the emperor Constantine on top of St. Peter’s grave (SCTJM 2006) . It was done when Pope Sylvester I was the head of the church ("St. Peter's Basilica" 2014). What we see right now the renovated version of St. Peters. Once the old church started to deteriorate Pope Nicolas V declared it to be unsafe and requested Bernardo Rossellino to rebuild the church. After Pope Nicolas V died Pope Julio II decided to continue with the idea ("St. Peter's Basilica" ). Thus in 1506 AD the construction of the new church began under the leadership of Donato Bramante (Hayes 2010). Through the construction of the basilica it had many lead architect work on it. The leaderships flowed from Bramante to Raphael to Fra Giocondo to Giuliano da Sangallo to Baldassare Peruzzi to Antonio da Sangallo and finally Michelangelo (("St. Peter's Basilica" 2014). Then in 1626 AD new church was opened("St. Peter's Basilica" ). The architects who worked on the basilica made sure the final product portrays the magnificence of the Catholic Church. Along with that they also added symbolic architecture on the interior and exterior of the Basilica. From the placing of the pillars to the minute details as the bee on the Altar of the Confession holds deep symbolic and theological meanings (Croisette 2014).

Starting from the exterior, the Basilica has many symbolic structures and statues. One example is the piazza lined by colonnades- also known as St. Peter’s square. It shaped in a manner that makes it look like an arm stretched out to welcome. The architect himself explained the idea as “the motherly arms of the church”. It is...

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...zza." Last modified 2005. Accessed April 14, 2014. http://honorsaharchive.blogspot.com/2005/09/st-peters-piazza.html.

Tighe, S.P. Arch, Steeples and Dom: Religious Symbols on a Journey of Faith. Indiana : Authour House, 2009. http://books.google.com/books?id=fax-HoMP7I8C&pg=PA73&dq=symbolism in st peter's basilica&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ikBMU-fgKpHmsATxk4CACA&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBg

World site guides, "St. Peter's Basilia, Rome." Last modified April 03, 2011. Accessed April 14, 2014. http://www.worldsiteguides.com/europe/italy/rome/st-peters-basilica/.

Hassett, Maurice. The Catholi Encylopedia, "History of the Christian Altar." Last modified 1907. Accessed April 16, 2014. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01362a.htm.

McClendon, Charles B. "The History of the Site of St. Peter's Basilica, Rome." Perspecta. (1989): 32-65. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1567138 (accessed May 2, 2014).

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