Page 424 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

422  ROME AND LAZIO

2 St Peter’s

Catholicism’s most sacred shrine, the Dome of St Peter’s
sumptuous, marble-caked basilica of The 136.5 m- (448 ft-) high
dome, designed by
St Peter’s draws pilgrims and tourists Michelangelo, was not
from all over the world. It holds completed in his lifetime.
hundreds of precious works of art,
some salvaged from the original
4th-century basilica built by
Constantine, others commissioned
from Renaissance and Baroque
artists. The dominant tone is set by
Bernini, who created the baldacchino
twisting up below Michelangelo’s
huge dome. He also created the
Cathedra in the apse, with four saints
supporting a throne that contains
fragments once thought to be relics
of the chair from which St Peter
delivered his first sermon.

KEY
1 Entrance to Historical Artistic
Museum and Sacristy
2 The Monument to Pope
Alexander VII was Bernini’s last work
in St Peter’s. Completed in 1678, it
shows the Chigi Pope among figures
of Truth, Justice, Charity and Prudence.
3 A staircase of 537 steps leads to
the summit of the dome.
4 The Baldacchino was
commissioned by Pope Urban VIII in
1624; Bernini’s extravagant Baroque
canopy stands above St Peter’s tomb.
5 The Papal Altar stands over the
crypt where St Peter is reputedly Historical Plan of the
buried.
Basilica of St Peter’s
6 The church is 186 m (615 ft) long.
St Peter was buried in AD 64 in
7 The foot of St Peter, sculpted by a necropolis near the site of his
Arnolfo di Cambio in the 13th century, cruci fixion in the Circus of Nero.
has worn thin from the touch of In AD 324 Constantine constructed
pilgrims over the centuries.
a basilica over the tomb. The
8 Two minor cupolas by Vignola old church was rebuilt in the
(1507–73) 15th century, and throughout the
9 Markings on the floor of the nave 16th and 17th centuries various
show how other churches compare architects developed the existing
in length. structure. The new church was
in augurated in 1626.
0 Façade by Carlo Maderno (1614)
q From this Library window, the Key
pope blesses the faithful gathered in
the piazza below. Circus of Nero
w The Holy Door is used only in Holy Constantinian
Years. Renaissance
e Atrium by Carlo Maderno Baroque
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600

422-423_EW_Italy.indd 422 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Starsight template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.2)
Date 23rd October 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm