بازيليكا القديس بطرس

Saint Peter's Basilica
Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican
Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano (إيطالية) Basilica Sancti Petri (لاتينية)
Main façade and dome of St. Peter's Basilica, seen from St. Peter's Square
41°54′08″N 12°27′12″E
البلد	Vatican City
الطائفة	Catholic
التقليد	Roman Rite
الموقع الإلكتروني	St. Peter's Basilica
التاريخ
الوضع	Papal major basilica
التكريس	Saint Peter
Consecrated	18 November 1626
العمارة
المعماري	Donato Bramante Antonio da Sangallo the Younger Michelangelo Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola Giacomo della Porta Carlo Maderno Gian Lorenzo Bernini Carlo Fontana
النمط	Renaissance and Baroque
بدء الحفر	18 April 1506
اكتملت	18 نوفمبر 1626 (1626-11-18)
المواصفات
الطول	220 metres (720 ft)
Width	150 metres (490 ft)
Height	136.6 metres (448 ft)
Nave height	46.2 metres (152 ft)
قطر القبة (الخارجي)	42 metres (138 ft)
قطر القبة (الداخلي)	41.5 metres (136 ft)
الادارة
Diocese	Rome
الكهنوت
Archpriest	Mauro Gambetti
موقع تراث عالمي حسب اليونسكو
الاسم الرسمي	Vatican City
النوع	Cultural
المعيار	i, ii, iv, vi
التوصيف	1984 (8th session)
الرقم المرجعي	286
Region	Europe and North America

كنيسة القديس بطرس والتي تعرف بالإيطالية باسم "Basilica di San Pietro"، تصنف ثانية من بين خمسة الكنائس الكبرى في مدينة روما، والفاتيكان. تعد أكبر كنيسة في المسيحية، حيث تغطي مساحة قدرها 23.000 متر مربع. وتعتبر أحد أقدس الأماكن المسيحية، حيث كانت موقع دفن القديس بطرس. بدأ بناء الكنيسة الحالية في 1506 وانتهى في 1626. وتقع في Vatican City, the papal enclave that is within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initially planned by Pope Nicholas V and then Pope Julius II to replace the aging Old St. Peter's Basilica, which was built in the fourth century by Roman emperor Constantine the Great. Construction of the present basilica began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626.

Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and the largest church in the world by interior measure. While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome (these equivalent titles being held by the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome), St. Peter's is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world", and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom."

Catholic tradition holds that the basilica is the burial site of Saint Peter, chief among Jesus's apostles and also the first Bishop of Rome (Pope). Saint Peter's tomb is supposedly directly below the high altar of the basilica, also known as the Altar of the Confession. For this reason, many popes have been interred at St. Peter's since the Early Christian period.

St. Peter's is famous as a place of pilgrimage and for its liturgical functions. The pope presides at a number of liturgies throughout the year both within the basilica or the adjoining St. Peter's Square; these liturgies draw audiences numbering from 15,000 to over 80,000 people. St. Peter's has many historical associations, with the Early Christian Church, the Papacy, the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-reformation and numerous artists, especially Michelangelo. As a work of architecture, it is regarded as the greatest building of its age. St. Peter's is one of the four churches in the world that hold the rank of Major papal basilica, all four of which are in Rome, and is also one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome. Contrary to popular misconception, it is not a cathedral because it is not the seat of a bishop; the cathedra of the pope as bishop of Rome is at Saint John Lateran.

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 استعراض عام

View from the Tiber on Ponte Sant'Angelo and the Basilica. The iconic dome dominates the skyline of Rome.

St. Peter's is a church built in the Renaissance style located in the Vatican City west of the River Tiber and near the Janiculum Hill and Hadrian's Mausoleum. Its central dome dominates the skyline of Rome. The basilica is approached via St. Peter's Square, a forecourt in two sections, both surrounded by tall colonnades. The first space is oval and the second trapezoidal. The façade of the basilica, with a giant order of columns, stretches across the end of the square and is approached by steps on which stand two 5.55 metres (18.2 ft) statues of the first-century apostles to Rome, Saints Peter and Paul.

The basilica is cruciform in shape, with an elongated nave in the Latin cross form but the early designs were for a centrally planned structure and this is still in evidence in the architecture. The central space is dominated both externally and internally by one of the largest domes in the world. The entrance is through a narthex, or entrance hall, which stretches across the building. One of the decorated bronze doors leading from the narthex is the Holy Door, only opened during jubilees.

Panorama of St. Peter's Square

 التاريخ

 موقع دفن القديس بطرس

المقالة الرئيسية: قبر القديس بطرسي

A modern conjectural reconstruction of the relative locations of the circus, and the medieval and current Basilicas of St. Peter

After the crucifixion of Jesus, it is recorded in the Biblical book of the Acts of the Apostles that one of his twelve disciples, Simon known as Saint Peter, a fisherman from Galilee, took a leadership position among Jesus' followers and was of great importance in the founding of the Christian Church. The name Peter is "Petrus" in Latin and "Petros" in Greek, deriving from petra which means "stone" or "rock" in Greek, and is the literal translation of the Aramaic "Kepa", the name given to Simon by Jesus. (John 1:42, and see Matthew 16:18)

Catholic tradition holds that Peter, after a ministry of thirty-four years, travelled to Rome and met his martyrdom there along with Paul on 13 October 64 AD during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. His execution was one of the many martyrdoms of Christians following the Great Fire of Rome. According to Jerome, Peter was crucified head downwards, by his own request because he considered himself unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus. The crucifixion took place near an ancient Egyptian obelisk in the Circus of Nero. The obelisk now stands in St. Peter's Square and is revered as a "witness" to Peter's death. It is one of several ancient Obelisks of Rome.

 العمارة

 المساقط المتعاقبة

• 

  Bramante's plan

• 

  Raphael's plan

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  Michelangelo's plan

 مساهمة مايكلانجلو

Michelangelo took over a building site at which four piers, enormous beyond any constructed since ancient Roman times, were rising behind the remaining nave of the old basilica. He also inherited the numerous schemes designed and redesigned by some of the greatest architectural and engineering minds of the 16th century. There were certain common elements in these schemes. They all called for a dome to equal that engineered by Brunelleschi a century earlier and which has since dominated the skyline of Renaissance Florence, and they all called for a strongly symmetrical plan of either Greek Cross form, like the iconic St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, or of a Latin Cross with the transepts of identical form to the chancel, as at Florence Cathedral.

 برامانتى وسانگالو، 1506 و 1513

1506 medal by Cristoforo Foppa depicting Bramante's design, including the four flanking smaller domes

The dome of the Pantheon stands on a circular wall with no entrances or windows except a single door. The whole building is as high as it is wide. Its dome is constructed in a single shell of concrete, made light by the inclusion of a large amount of the volcanic stones tuff and pumice. The inner surface of the dome is deeply coffered which has the effect of creating both vertical and horizontal ribs while lightening the overall load. At the summit is an ocular opening 8 metres (26 ft) across which provides light to the interior.

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  Bramante's dome

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  Sangallo's design

• 

  The engraving by Stefan du Pérac was published in 1569, five years after the death of Michelangelo.

 مايكلانجلو وجاكومو دلا پورتا، 1547 and 1585

St. Peter's Basilica from Castel Sant'Angelo showing the dome rising behind Maderno's façade

The dome was brought to completion by Giacomo della Porta and Fontana.

Michelangelo redesigned the dome in 1547, taking into account all that had gone before. His dome, like that of Florence, is constructed of two shells of brick, the outer one having 16 stone ribs, twice the number at Florence but far fewer than in Sangallo's design. As with the designs of Bramante and Sangallo, the dome is raised from the piers on a drum. The encircling peristyle of Bramante and the arcade of Sangallo are reduced to 16 pairs of Corinthian columns, each of 15 metres (49 ft) high which stand proud of the building, connected by an arch. Visually they appear to buttress each of the ribs, but structurally they are probably quite redundant. The reason for this is that the dome is ovoid in shape, rising steeply as does the dome of Florence Cathedral, and therefore exerting less outward thrust than does a hemispherical dome, such as that of the Pantheon, which, although it is not buttressed, is countered by the downward thrust of heavy masonry which extends above the circling wall.

 الإكمال

Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana brought the dome to completion in 1590, the last year of the reign of Sixtus V. His successor, Gregory XIV, saw Fontana complete the lantern and had an inscription to the honour of Sixtus V placed around its inner opening. The next pope, Clement VIII, had the cross raised into place, an event which took all day, and was accompanied by the ringing of the bells of all the city's churches. In the arms of the cross are set two lead caskets, one containing a fragment of the True Cross and a relic of St. Andrew and the other containing medallions of the Holy Lamb.

In the mid-18th century, cracks appeared in the dome, so four iron chains were installed between the two shells to bind it, like the rings that keep a barrel from bursting. As many as ten chains have been installed at various times, the earliest possibly planned by Michelangelo himself as a precaution, as Brunelleschi did at Florence Cathedral.

Around the inside of the dome is written, in letters 1.4 metres (4.6 ft) high:

TV ES PETRVS ET SVPER HANC PETRAM AEDIFICABO ECCLESIAM MEAM ET TIBI DABO CLAVES REGNI CAELORVM
("... you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. ... and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven ..." Vulgate, Matthew 16:18–19.)

Beneath the lantern is the inscription:

S. PETRI GLORIAE SIXTVS PP. V. A. M. D. XC. PONTIF. V.
(To the glory of St Peter; Sixtus V, pope, in the year 1590, the fifth of his pontificate.)

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 اكتشاف مسودة مايكلانجلو

On 7 December 2007, a fragment of a red chalk drawing of a section of the dome of the basilica, almost certainly by the hand of Michelangelo, was discovered in the Vatican archives. The drawing shows a small precisely drafted section of the plan of the entablature above two of the radial columns of the cupola drum. Michelangelo is known to have destroyed thousands of his drawings before his death. The rare survival of this example is probably due to its fragmentary state and the fact that detailed mathematical calculations had been made over the top of the drawing.

 إضافة صحن وواجهة الكنيسة

Michelangelo's plan extended with Maderno's nave and narthex

On 18 February 1606, under Pope Paul V, the dismantling of the remaining parts of the Constantinian basilica began. The marble cross that had been set at the top of the pediment by Pope Sylvester and Constantine the Great was lowered to the ground. The timbers were salvaged for the roof of the Borghese Palace and two rare black marble columns, the largest of their kind, were carefully stored and later used in the narthex. The tombs of various popes were opened, treasures removed and plans made for re-interment in the new basilica. The Pope had appointed Carlo Maderno in 1602. He was a nephew of Domenico Fontana and had demonstrated himself as a dynamic architect. Maderno's idea was to ring Michelangelo's building with chapels, but the Pope was hesitant about deviating from the master's plan, even though he had been dead for forty years. The Fabbrica or building committee, a group drawn from various nationalities and generally despised by the Curia who viewed the basilica as belonging to Rome rather than Christendom, were in a quandary as to how the building should proceed. One of the matters that influenced their thinking was the Counter-Reformation which increasingly associated a Greek Cross plan with paganism and saw the Latin Cross as truly symbolic of Christianity. The central plan also did not have a "dominant orientation toward the east."

 صحن مادرنو

Maderno's nave, looking towards the chancel, as painted by Panini, 1731

 التأثير على عمارة الكنيسة

The design of St. Peter's Basilica, and in particular its dome, has greatly influenced church architecture in Western Christendom. Within Rome, the huge domed church of Sant'Andrea della Valle was designed by Giacomo della Porta before the completion of St Peter's Basilica, and subsequently worked on by Carlo Maderno. This was followed by the domes of San Carlo ai Catinari, Sant'Agnese in Agone, and many others. Christopher Wren's dome at St Paul's Cathedral (London, England), the domes of Karlskirche (Vienna, Austria), St. Nicholas Church (Prague, Czech Republic), and the Pantheon (Paris, France) all pay homage to St Peter's Basilica.

The 19th and early-20th-century architectural revivals brought about the building of a great number of churches that imitate elements of St Peter's to a greater or lesser degree, including St. Mary of the Angels in Chicago, St. Josaphat's Basilica in Milwaukee, Immaculate Heart of Mary in Pittsburgh and Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral in Montreal, which replicates many aspects of St Peter's on a smaller scale. Postmodernism has seen free adaptations of St Peter's in the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń, and the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro.

 مفروشات برنيني

The apse with St. Peter's Cathedra supported by four Doctors of the Church

 البابا أوربان الثامن وبرنيني

As a young boy Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) visited St. Peter's with the painter Annibale Carracci and stated his wish to build "a mighty throne for the apostle". His wish came true. As a young man, in 1626, he received the patronage of Pope Urban VIII and worked on the embellishment of the Basilica for 50 years. Appointed as Maderno's successor in 1629, he was to become regarded as the greatest architect and sculptor of the Baroque period. Bernini's works at St. Peter's include the baldachin (baldaquin, from Italian: baldacchino), the Chapel of the Sacrament, the plan for the niches and loggias in the piers of the dome and the chair of St. Peter.

 بالداتشينو والتجاويف

المقالة الرئيسية: St. Peter's Baldachin

Bernini's first work at St. Peter's was to design the baldacchino, a pavilion-like structure 28.74 metres (94.3 ft) tall and claimed to be the largest piece of bronze in the world, which stands beneath the dome and above the altar. Its design is based on the ciborium, of which there are many in the churches of Rome, serving to create a sort of holy space above and around the table on which the Sacrament is laid for the Eucharist and emphasizing the significance of this ritual. These ciboria are generally of white marble, with inlaid coloured stone. Bernini's concept was for something very different. He took his inspiration in part from the baldachin or canopy carried above the head of the pope in processions, and in part from eight ancient columns that had formed part of a screen in the old basilica. Their twisted barley-sugar shape had a special significance as they were modelled on those of the Temple of Jerusalem and donated by the Emperor Constantine. Based on these columns, Bernini created four huge columns of bronze, twisted and decorated with laurel leaves and bees, which were the emblem of Pope Urban.

The altar with Bernini's baldacchino

The baldacchino is surmounted not with an architectural pediment, like most baldacchini, but with curved Baroque brackets supporting a draped canopy, like the brocade canopies carried in processions above precious iconic images. In this case, the draped canopy is of bronze, and all the details, including the olive leaves, bees, and the portrait heads of Urban's niece in childbirth and her newborn son, are picked out in gold leaf. The baldacchino stands as a vast free-standing sculptural object, central to and framed by the largest space within the building. It is so large that the visual effect is to create a link between the enormous dome which appears to float above it, and the congregation at floor level of the basilica. It is penetrated visually from every direction, and is visually linked to the Cathedra Petri in the apse behind it and to the four piers containing large statues that are at each diagonal.

As part of the scheme for the central space of the church, Bernini had the huge piers, begun by Bramante and completed by Michelangelo, hollowed out into niches, and had staircases made inside them, leading to four balconies. There was much dismay from those who thought that the dome might fall, but it did not. On the balconies Bernini created showcases, framed by the eight ancient twisted columns, to display the four most precious relics of the basilica: the spear of Longinus, said to have pierced the side of Christ, the veil of Veronica, with the miraculous image of the face of Christ, a fragment of the True Cross discovered in Jerusalem by Constantine's mother, Helena, and a relic of Saint Andrew, the brother of Saint Peter. In each of the niches that surround the central space of the basilica was placed a huge statue of the saint associated with the relic above. Only Saint Longinus is the work of Bernini. (See below)

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 كاتدرائية بطرسي ومصلى القربان المبارك

المقالة الرئيسية: كرسي القديس بطرسي

Bernini's Cathedra Petri and Gloria

Bernini then turned his attention to another precious relic, the so-called Cathedra Petri or "throne of St. Peter" a chair which was often claimed to have been used by the apostle, but appears to date from the 12th century. As the chair itself was fast deteriorating and was no longer serviceable, Pope Alexander VII determined to enshrine it in suitable splendor as the object upon which the line of successors to Peter was based. Bernini created a large bronze throne in which it was housed, raised high on four looping supports held effortlessly by massive bronze statues of four Doctors of the Church, Saints Ambrose and Augustine representing the Latin Church and Athanasius and John Chrysostom, the Greek Church. The four figures are dynamic with sweeping robes and expressions of adoration and ecstasy. Behind and above the cathedra, a blaze of light comes in through a window of yellow alabaster, illuminating, at its centre, the Dove of the Holy Spirit. The elderly painter, Andrea Sacchi, had urged Bernini to make the figures large, so that they would be seen well from the central portal of the nave. The chair was enshrined in its new home with great celebration of 16 January 1666.

Bernini's final work for St. Peter's, undertaken in 1676, was the decoration of the Chapel of the Sacrament. To hold the sacramental Host, he designed a miniature version in gilt bronze of Bramante's Tempietto, the little chapel that marks the place of the death of St. Peter. On either side is an angel, one gazing in rapt adoration and the other looking towards the viewer in welcome. Bernini died in 1680 in his 82nd year.

 ساحة القديس بطرسي

المقالة الرئيسية: ميدان القديس بطرسي

St. Peter's Basilica and the piazza at night

To the east of the basilica is the Piazza di San Pietro, (St. Peter's Square). The present arrangement, constructed between 1656 and 1667, is the Baroque inspiration of Bernini who inherited a location already occupied by an Egyptian obelisk which was centrally placed, (with some contrivance) to Maderno's facade. The obelisk, known as "The Witness", at 25.31 metres (83.0 ft) and a total height, including base and the cross on top, of 40 metres (130 ft), is the second largest standing obelisk, and the only one to remain standing since its removal from Egypt and re-erection at the Circus of Nero in 37 AD, where it is thought to have stood witness to the crucifixion of Saint Peter. Its removal to its present location by order of Pope Sixtus V and engineered by Domenico Fontana on 28 September 1586, was an operation fraught with difficulties and nearly ending in disaster when the ropes holding the obelisk began to smoke from the friction. Fortunately this problem was noticed by Benedetto Bresca, a sailor of Sanremo, and for his swift intervention, his town was granted the privilege of providing the palms that are used at the basilica each Palm Sunday.

One of the two fountains which form the axis of the piazza

The other object in the old square with which Bernini had to contend was a large fountain designed by Maderno in 1613 and set to one side of the obelisk, making a line parallel with the facade. Bernini's plan uses this horizontal axis as a major feature of his unique, spatially dynamic and highly symbolic design. The most obvious solutions were either a rectangular piazza of vast proportions so that the obelisk stood centrally and the fountain (and a matching companion) could be included, or a trapezoid piazza which fanned out from the facade of the basilica like that in front of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena. The problems of the square plan are that the necessary width to include the fountain would entail the demolition of numerous buildings, including some of the Vatican, and would minimize the effect of the facade. The trapezoid plan, on the other hand, would maximize the apparent width of the facade, which was already perceived as a fault of the design.

Evening aerial view of the piazza and facade

Bernini's ingenious solution was to create a piazza in two sections. That part which is nearest the basilica is trapezoid, but rather than fanning out from the facade, it narrows. This gives the effect of countering the visual perspective. It means that from the second part of the piazza, the building looks nearer than it is, the breadth of the facade is minimized and its height appears greater in proportion to its width. The second section of the piazza is a huge elliptical circus which gently slopes downwards to the obelisk at its centre. The two distinct areas are framed by a colonnade formed by doubled pairs of columns supporting an entablature of the simple Tuscan Order.

View of Rome from the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica

 Bells

The Basilica has 6 bells, placed in the room under the Roman clock, only 3 of them are visible from ground level while the rest are hidden behind the bourdon. They range from the smallest which is 260 kg to the massive bourdon that approximately weighs 9 tonnes. From 1931, the bells are operated electrically, thus permitting even the largest bell to be tolled from a distance. The oldest bell Rota dates from 1288 and the bourdon called Campanone is rung at Christmas and Easter, on the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, and every time the Pope imparts the "Urbi et Orbi" blessing to the city and to the world. Campanone also announces the election of a new pope.

Bell#	Name	Mass	Date cast
1	Campanella	260 kg	1825
2	Ave Maria	280 kg	1932
3	Predica	850 kg	1893
4	Rota	2 t	1288
5	Campanoncino (Mezzana, Benedittina)	4 t	1725
6	Campanone	9 t	1785

 Treasures

 Tombs and relics

قائمة أكثر شمولاً، انظر List of papal tombs.

Air vents for the crypt in St. Peter's Basilica

There are over 100 tombs within St. Peter's Basilica (extant to various extents), many located beneath the Basilica. These include 91 popes, Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Holy Roman Emperor Otto II, and the composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Exiled Catholic British royalty James Francis Edward Stuart and his two sons, Charles Edward Stuart and Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal Bishop of Frascati, are buried here, having been granted asylum by Pope Clement XI. Also buried here are Maria Clementina Sobieska, wife of James Francis Edward Stuart, Queen Christina of Sweden, who abdicated her throne in order to convert to Catholicism, and Countess Matilda of Tuscany, supporter of the Papacy during the Investiture Controversy. The most recent interment was Pope Benedict XVI, on 5 January 2023. Beneath, near the crypt, is the recently discovered vaulted fourth-century "Tomb of the Julii". (See below for some descriptions of tombs).

 Artworks

 Towers and narthex

• In the towers to either side of the facade are two clocks. The clock on the left has been operated electrically since 1931. Its oldest bell dates from 1288.
• One of the most important treasures of the basilica is a mosaic set above the central external door. Called the "Navicella", it is based on a design by Giotto (early 14th century) and represents a ship symbolizing the Christian Church. The mosaic is mostly a 17th-century copy of Giotto's original.
• At each end of the narthex is an equestrian figure, to the north Constantine the Great by Bernini (1670) and to the south Charlemagne by Cornacchini (18th century).
• Of the five portals from the narthex to the interior, three contain notable doors. The central portal has the Renaissance bronze door by Antonio Averulino (called Filarete) (1455), enlarged to fit the new space. The southern door, the Door of the Dead, was designed by 20th-century sculptor Giacomo Manzù and includes a portrait of Pope John XXIII kneeling before the crucified figure of Saint Peter.
• The northernmost door is the "Holy Door" which, by tradition, is walled-up with bricks, and opened only for holy years such as the Jubilee year by the Pope. The present door is bronze and was designed by Vico Consorti in 1950 and cast in Florence by the Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry. Above it are inscriptions commemorating the opening of the door: PAVLVS V PONT MAX ANNO XIII and GREGORIVS XIII PONT MAX.

Recently installed commemorative plaques read above the door as follows:

PAVLVS VI PONT MAX HVIVS PATRIARCALIS VATICANAE BASILICAE PORTAM SANCTAM APERVIT ET CLAVSIT ANNO IVBILAEI MCMLXXV
(Paul VI, Pontifex Maximus, opened and closed the holy door of this patriarchal Vatican basilica in the jubilee year of 1975.)

IOANNES PAVLVS II P.M. PORTAM SANCTAM ANNO IVBILAEI MCMLXXVI A PAVLO PP VI RESERVATAM ET CLAVSAM APERVIT ET CLAVSIT ANNO IVB HVMANE REDEMP MCMLXXXIII–MCMLXXXIV
(John Paul II, Pontifex Maximus, opened and closed again the holy door closed and set apart by Pope Paul VI in 1976 in the jubilee year of human redemption 1983–1984.)

IOANNES PAVLVS II P.M. ITERVM PORTAM SANCTAM APERVIT ET CLAVSIT ANNO MAGNI IVBILAEI AB INCARNATIONE DOMINI MM–MMI
(John Paul II, Pontifex Maximus, again opened and closed the holy door in the year of the great jubilee, from the incarnation of the Lord 2000–2001.)

FRANCISCVS PP. PORTAM SANCTAM ANNO MAGNI IVB MM–MMI A IOANNE PAVLO PP. II RESERVATAM ET CLAVSAM APERVIT ET CLAVSIT ANNO IVB MISERICORDIAE MMXV–MMXVI
(Pope Francis opened and closed again the holy door, closed and set apart by Pope John Paul II in the year of the great jubilee 2000–2001, in the jubilee year of Mercy 2015–2016.)

Older commemorative plaques are removed to make way for the new plaque when the holy door is opened and sealed.

 Nave

• On the first piers of the nave are two Holy Water basins held by pairs of cherubs each 2 metres high, commissioned by Pope Benedict XIII from designer Agostino Cornacchini and sculptor Francesco Moderati, (1720s).
• Along the floor of the nave are markers showing the comparative lengths of other churches, starting from the entrance.
• On the decorative pilasters of the piers of the nave are medallions with relief depicting 56 of the first popes.
• In niches between the pilasters of the nave are statues depicting 39 founders of religious orders.
• Set against the north east pier of the dome is a statue of Saint Peter Enthroned, sometimes attributed to late 13th-century sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio, with some scholars dating it to the fifth century. One foot of the statue is largely worn away by pilgrims kissing it for centuries.
• The sunken Confessio leading to the Vatican Grottoes (see above) contained a large kneeling statue by Canova of Pope Pius VI, who was captured and mistreated by Napoleon Bonaparte's army. This has now been moved to the back (eastern) end of the grottoes.
• In the Confessio is the Niche of the Pallium ("Niche of Stoles") which contains a bronze urn, donated by Pope Benedict XIV, to contain white stoles embroidered with black crosses and woven with the wool of lambs blessed on St. Agnes' day.
• The High Altar is surmounted by Bernini's baldachin. (See above)
• Set in niches within the four piers supporting the dome are the larger-than-life statues associated with the basilica's primary holy relics: Saint Helena holding the True Cross and the Holy Nails, by Andrea Bolgi; Saint Longinus holding the spear that pierced the side of Jesus, by Bernini (1639); Saint Andrew with the St. Andrew's Cross, by Francois Duquesnoy and Saint Veronica holding her veil with the image of Jesus' face, by Francesco Mochi.

• 

  Saint Helena
  by Andrea Bolgi

• 

  Saint Longinus
  by Bernini

• 

  Saint Andrew
  by Francois Duquesnoy

• 

  Saint Veronica
  by Francesco Mochi

 Specifications

Crepuscular rays are seen in St. Peter's Basilica at certain times each day.

• Cost of construction of the basilica: more than 46,800,052 ducats
• Geographic orientation: chancel west, nave east
• Total length: 730 feet (220 m)
• Total width: 500 feet (150 m)
• Interior length including vestibule: 693.8 feet (211.5 m), more than ¹⁄₈ mile.
• Length of the transepts in interior: 451 feet (137 m)
• Width of nave: 90.2 feet (27.5 m)
• Width at the tribune: 78.7 feet (24.0 m)
• Internal width at transepts: 451 feet (137 m)
• Internal height of nave: 151.5 feet (46.2 m) high
• Total area: 227,070 square feet (21,095 m²), more than 5 acres (20,000 m²).
• Internal area: 163,182.2 square feet (3.75 acres; 15,160.12 m²)
• Height from pavement to top of cross: 448.1 feet (136.6 m)
• Façade: 167 feet (51 m) high by 375 feet (114 m) wide
• Vestibule: 232.9 feet (71.0 m) wide, 44.2 feet (13.5 m) deep, and 91.8 feet (28.0 m) high
• The internal columns and pilasters: 92 feet (28 m) tall
• The circumference of the central piers: 240 feet (73 m)
• Outer diameter of dome: 137.7 feet (42.0 m)
• The drum of the dome: 630 feet (190 m) in circumference and 65.6 feet (20.0 m) high, rising to 240 feet (73 m) from the ground
• The lantern: 63 feet (19 m) high
• The ball and cross: 8 and 16 feet (2.4 and 4.9 m), respectively
• St. Peter's Square: 1,115 feet (340 m) long, 787.3 feet (240.0 m) wide
• Each arm of the colonnade: 306 feet (93 m) long, and 64 feet (20 m) high
• The colonnades have 284 columns, 88 pilasters, and 140 statues
• Obelisk: 83.6 feet (25.5 m). Total height with base and cross, 132 feet (40 m).
• Weight of obelisk: 360.2 short tons (326,800 kg; 720,400 lb)

 See also

Silhouette of St. Peter's Basilica at sundown (view from Castel Sant'Angelo).

• Architecture of cathedrals and great churches
• Architecture of Rome
• History of early modern period domes
• List of tallest domes
• Index of Vatican City-related articles
• List of basilicas in Italy
• List of oldest church buildings
• List of Roman Catholic basilicas
• List of tallest buildings in Rome
• List of tallest structures built before the 20th century

 Bibliography

• Bannister, Turpin (1968). "The Constantinian Basilica of Saint Peter at Rome". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 27 (1): 3–32. doi:10.2307/988425. JSTOR 988425. OCLC 19640446.(يتطلب اشتراك)
•  Baumgarten, Paul Maria (1913). [[wikisource:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Basilica of St. Peter "|Basilica of St. Peter]"]. Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Check |url= value (help)
• Betts, Richard J. (1993). "Structural Innovation and Structural Design in Renaissance Architecture". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 52 (1): 5–25. doi:10.2307/990755. JSTOR 990755.
• Boorsch, Suzanne (1982). "The Building of the Vatican: The Papacy and Architecture". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. New York. XL (3): 4–64. doi:10.2307/3258914. JSTOR 3258914. OCLC 39642638.
• Dzyubanskyy, Taras (2010). The Development of the Cult of St. Peter in the Vatican: from the poor man's grave to the largest basilica in the world. Lviv.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Finch, Margaret (1991). "The Cantharus and Pigna at Old Saint Peter's". Gesta. 30 (1): 16–26. doi:10.2307/767006. JSTOR 767006. S2CID 155861160.(يتطلب اشتراك)
• Fletcher, Banister (1975). History of Architecture on the Comparative Method for the student, craftsman, and amateur. New York: Macmillan Pub Company. ISBN 978-99974-605-5-4.
•  ———  (2001) [First published 1896]. Sir Banister Fletcher's a History of Architecture (20th ed.). London: Architectural Press. ISBN 978-0-7506-2267-7.
• Frommel, Christoph (1986). "Papal Policy: The Planning of Rome during the Renaissance in The Evidence of Art: Images and Meaning in History" (PDF). Journal of Interdisciplinary History. Cambridge. 17 (1): 39–65. doi:10.2307/204124. ISSN 0022-1953. JSTOR 204124.(يتطلب اشتراك)
• Gardner, Helen; Kleiner, Fred S.; Mamiya, Christin J. (2005). Gardner's Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective. Vol. 2 (12th ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth. pp. 499–500, 571–575. ISBN 978-0-495-00479-0.
• Goldscheider, Ludwig (1996). Michelangelo (6th ed.). Oxford: Phaidon. ISBN 978-0-7148-3296-8.
• Hartt, Frederick (2006). History of Italian Renaissance Art (6th ed.). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-188247-8.
• Hintzen-Bohlen, Brigitte; Sorges, Jürgen (2001). Rome and the Vatican City. Köln: Könemann. ISBN 978-3-8290-3109-7.
• Korn, Frank J. (2002). Hidden Rome. New York: Paulist Press. ISBN 978-0-8091-4109-8.
• Lanciani, Rodolfo (1892). "Chapter III: Christian Churches". Pagan and Christian Rome. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
• Lees-Milne, James (1967). "Saint Peter's – the story of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome". London: Hamish Hamilton. OCLC 1393052.
• McClendon, Charles (1989). "The History of the Site of St. Peter's Basilica, Rome". Perspecta: The Yale Architectural Journal. 25: 32–65. doi:10.2307/1567138. ISSN 0079-0958. JSTOR 1567138.
• Pevsner, Nikolaus (1963). An Outline of European Architecture (7th ed.). Baltimore: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-020109-3. OCLC 2208913.
• Pile, John F. (2005). A History of Interior Design (second ed.). London: Laurence King Publishing. ISBN 978-1-856-69418-6.
• Pinto, Pio (1975). The Pilgrim's Guide to Rome. San Francisco: Harper & Row. ISBN 978-0-06-013388-7.
• Scotti, R. A. (2007). Basilica: the Splendor and the Scandal – Building of St. Peter's. New York: Plume. ISBN 978-0-452-28860-7.
• "Inside the Vatican". National Geographic News. National Geographic Society. 28 October 2010 [2004]. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
• "Saint Peter's – Truth Unveiled: Bernini's Bell Towers and the Allegory of Truth: Urban VIII's Bell Towers". Archived from the original on 10 June 2014.

 External links

• Vaticanstate.va Archived 22 فبراير 2019 at the Wayback Machine – official website with images and information about the Basilica
• "Virtual Reality Tour of the Basilica of Saint Peter"
• St Peter's Basilica.info ‒ unofficial website on the basilica, with images and text from different books.
• 360 Degree Photographs Inside Saint Peter's Basilica
• Google Maps: Vatican ‒ Satellite image of the Basilica

أرقام قياسية
سبقه Unknown	Tallest building in Rome 1626–2012 136.6 metres (448 ft)	تبعه Torre Eurosky
سبقه Unknown	Tallest dome 1626–present 136.6 metres (448 ft)	الشاغل الحالي للمنصب