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Location:
Europe,
Italy, Rome
Category:
Famous Landmark
Description:
View of
the
city of Rome, with St Peter's
cathedral
Location Information:
The
Papal Basilica of Saint Peter,
officially known in Italian as the
Basilica Papale di San Pietro in
Vaticano and commonly known as St.
Peter's Basilica, is a Late
Renaissance church located within
the Vatican City. St. Peter's
Basilica has the largest interior of
any Christian church in the world,
holding 60,000 people. It is
regarded as one of the holiest
Christian sites. It has been
described as "holding a unique
position in the Christian world] and
as "the greatest of all churches of
Christendom".[3] In Catholic
tradition, it is the burial site of
its namesake Saint Peter, who was
one of the twelve apostles of Jesus
and, according to tradition, first
Bishop of Rome and therefore first
in the line of the papal succession.
Tradition and some historical
evidence hold that Saint Peter's
tomb is directly below the altar of
the basilica. For this reason, many
Popes have been interred at St
Peter's since the Early Christian
period. There has been a church on
this site since the 4th century.
Construction of the present
basilica, over the old Constantinian
basilica, began on April 18, 1506
and was completed on November 18,
1626
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