ST. PETER’S BASILICA

Walk 3 continues, coming from the Vatican Museum.

St. Peter’s is the most heavenly, spectacular room ever built! No place will ever come a close second to this amazing interior. One could spend a long time admiring the vast noble space, 692 feet long containing 450 statues, 500 columns, 45 altars, subterranean crypts, Michelangelo’s dome and Pieta, Bernini’s Baldacchino, mosaics, monuments, tombs, marble details and angels everywhere, but our tips will get you through in one hour. Just be sure you are not wearing shorts or you will not get in. If pants reach your knees they will pass muster with the guardians, so lower your shorts if they are borderline.

Upon entering, turn left and stand silently for a minute at the very front of the nave looking into the vast space to absorb this amazing vista. Words and pictures can never express the feelings this will inspire. St. Peter’s is one of those special places that are really difficult to explain, describe, or photograph because it’s such a large, complicated and extremely beautiful space; standing by the central front door for a moment is the best way to begin your appreciation.

Summary of itinerary: walk briefly up the middle; return to first chapel on the right; walk along the right (north) aisle; enter the crossing under the dome; admire altar in the apse; cross to left side of transept; walk along the left aisle to exit in front of basilica.

The middle of the nave has markings on the floor designating lengths of 14 other great churches, all shorter than St. Peter’s: two longest rivals: St. Paul’s in London, 158 meters; cathedral at Florence, 149 meters. Have a look at some of those floor inscriptions but don’t go all the way up the middle because you want to see the Pieta, in the front chapel on the right side.

Take time for a close look at Michelangelo’s Pieta, in a place of honor at the front, right side of the church. You can’t miss the Madonna and Christ behind the constant mob of people, so wait your turn and shuffle in with the crowd to get up front for an unobstructed view, then prop your camera on the railing to steady it in the dim light to get a sharp photo.

If using flash, you’ll need a side angle so glare from the protective glass doesn’t get in the way -- yes glass, because a madman attacked the Madonna decades ago and broke her nose, since repaired. Michelangelo was already well-known as a child prodigy from Florence, a noted young genius who was important enough that he was given this major commission for a tomb in the old St. Peter’s. After a year of carving he finished the statue in 1499 and when unveiled, the public was so amazed by its beauty they did not believe that Michelangelo carved it. This enraged him so much that he sneaked back into the church one night and chiseled his name into the Madonna’s sash to prove he was the creator; the only artwork he ever signed.

The Pieta is valued by many as the world’s greatest sculpture. With this creation Michelangelo established a reputation that continued to grow for the next 65 years, during which he produced a vast body of work that ranks him as probably the greatest artist of all time.

Michelangelo (1475-1564) began his involvement here with the Pieta when he was 24, started painting the Sistine Chapel at 33, and was 72 when brought back into the ongoing arguments about construction to help refine the engineering, the architecture and later to the design the dome. His modifications to the floor plan and his planned shape of the dome were both altered after his passing, but the dome remains as one of his towering accomplishments. Michelangelo is still considered the principal designer of the building as it stands today.

The dome is the tallest ever built, nearly 450 feet high to the tip of the cross on top and with a diameter of 136 feet. When he died in 1564, only the encircling drum wall foundation had been built; the rest was left to Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana, who retained but elongated the original plans and stretched the dome up into an egg-like shape rather than hemispherical dome. Since its completion in 1590, ten heavy chains have been installed internally to prevent the dome from collapsing.

As you walk through the church be sure to stop frequently and look around; it is always great to get different angles as you move along, so take your time, walk slowly, stop, look around. That is our mantra for the entire book and it’s the best practice for any walking tour, especially here where the interior is so exquisitely designed that no matter which way you look there is going to be a rewarding view; it will be different each time you stop.

We can only point out major highlights about such a place that could fill a large encyclopedia with historical detail, anecdotes, interpretation and analysis. Relevant facts and stories can amplify your appreciation but the real shock-and-awe comes from your emotional response to this visual feast.

When passing between column and chapel in the first passage of the right aisle, look left, up at the picture of Queen Christiana of Sweden, the Catholic heroine who abdicated and converted from Protestantism in a big coup for the Church during the Counter Reformation. Ironically, the corruption involved with raising money to cover the huge expenses of building St. Peter’s, selling indulgences or tickets to heaven, was one reason Martin Luther got so angry in the first place.

There is only one work by Borromini here, an elaborate metal screen you see next on the right side in front of the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. Inside this chapel there is an altarpiece and wonderful Baroque decor from floor to ceiling designed by Bernini. Admission to this chapel is restricted to those who are saying a prayer, and no photography is permitted, but if you are reverent and respectful and just want to take a look, you are welcome. There is often a short line of people waiting, but the line moves quickly, so don’t be discouraged. It’s worth the wait.

More fine examples of Bernini’s architectural work are the two arches across the aisles just ahead, which he designed to join together the extension of the nave. Bramante’s original plan for St. Peter’s used the Greek cross style with the length of the nave equal to the width of the transepts, basically a square floor plan. Michelangelo revised the architecture, but he also kept the same Greek cross plan, as you can see in the diagrams.

In the early 1600s the nave was extended into a Latin cross plan by Carlo Maderno in order to enlarge the church, increase its capacity and create a grand new facade. Decades later, Bernini designed two large arches on either side of the nave just before the crossing to join the newly-expanded front portion of the church to the original core in a seamless way.

As you approach the dome, notice the bronze statue of St. Peter seated on the right side of the nave, the work of the medieval sculptor Arnolfo de Cambio who also designed the two main churches in Florence. The ritual at this statue is that you rub the bronze foot of St. Peter for good luck, which is why it’s all worn out and why there is generally a line of people waiting patiently to touch the foot, so if you are superstitious, get in line and wait your turn. This is one of the few items preserved from the previous St. Peter’s.

Everything is on a jumbo scale here. Even the puti, the young angels scattered about, seem much bigger than human size. Normally puti are depicted as quite small fellows but here in St. Peter’s everything is bigger than life, and the over-sized statues help create an illusion that the huge building is not so large, but instead is a magical mix that welcomes while putting you in your place.

Bernini’s great Baldacchino or ceremonial canopy rises 98 feet high to the top of its cross. About the height of a ten-story building, this bronze canopy doesn’t seem so large due to the huge space and immense building all around it. This shows the skill of the architects to create a human scale in the midst of such large place. Columns of the Baldacchino are in a spiral motif supposedly inspired by the columns of the legendary Temple of Solomon, and perhaps by the shape of a column to which Christ was reputedly bound before the crucifixion. You can see several original spiral marble columns from the earlier Basilica on top of the four balconies in the large piers holding up the dome, which may have also inspired Bernini.

 

Get close and notice the bronze bees on the columns, symbols of the Barberini family of popes who commissioned Bernini to create this marvelous canopy, the world’s largest bronze object, which stands above the high altar of the basilica that is reserved for the pontiff’s important masses.

A stairway with candle-lined railings leads underneath the Baldacchino to what is believed to be the tomb of St. Peter. Excavations have found a skeleton that seems to match details of St. Peter’s execution.

Stand next to the base of one of these columns to look up for a marvelous perspective all the way up to the lantern of the dome. It is dizzying to look up at the Dome, which is actually two domes, one inside the other in a technique that was pioneered in Florence by Brunelleschi, who built the great dome of Santa Maria Novella using an inner and outer shell. You can walk up to the top of the Dome, in a space between the two domes which gets narrower as you reach the top, squeezing to about 3 feet wide at the very top, so you might be walking sideways as you reach the very top. You get a spectacular view up there, surely a marvelous feeling, but as you’ve seen earlier, you get similar views by merely looking out certain windows in the Vatican Museum.

Only four columns hold up the massive dome, but these columns are so huge, 60 feet wide and square rather than round, that they are called piers. At the base of each is a niche framing a large statue, each designed by Bernini: St. Veronica holding up the face cloth that wiped the face of Christ on his way to Calgary; St. Andrew, crucified on the X-shaped cross; St. Helen, holding the Cross, which she searched for in a campaign that lasted most of her life; and Longinus, whom legend names as the Roman soldier who speared Christ at Calvary (the only one of the four actually carved by Bernini).

Longinus was said to have been immediately forgiven by Christ and converted, making him the first Roman soldier to become a Christian. Relics of actual religious items associated with each statue are located inside the piers above the niches.

Another great monument by Bernini is at the very back of the church where you’ll notice there’s a large arrangement of bronze statues above the altar, the “Cathedra Petri”. This is a series of Saints and Angels and Elder Wisemen of the Church standing across the lower section, and if you look carefully there is a bronze chair in the middle which reputedly contained the chair of St. Peter.

There is in fact a wooden chair inside the bronze, but carbon dating indicates that the wood is not quite so old. Bernini’s luminous accent here is the large dove representing the Holy Spirit in the yellow glass window. Here the light shines through the only stained glass in St. Peter’s; all the other glass is clear, which was the style at that time.

One of Bernini’s final works, created at the end of a long, illustrious career, is found in the left transept; this is the large marble statue complex, Memorial to Pope Alexander VII. While Bernini designed the entire multicolored and complicated marble statue, he only carved the face of the Pope with his own hands. The rest was fashioned by his workshop. By this time Bernini was in his 80s and knew he would soon be dying, so he included a golden statue of a skeleton holding the sands of time running out, a familiar religious symbol that reminds us to be good Catholics because our time is also running out.

St. Peter’s has got the fingerprints of Bernini all over it: the arrangement of the statues, the colored marbles, numerous architectural elements, important memorials, the colonnade piazza out front, and final design touches were created by that greatest of all Baroque masters whose artistic impact was also felt in many other places throughout Rome.

Notice the large pictures on the walls as you begin returning to the front of the church along the left aisle. They look like paintings from a distance, but in fact there are no paintings inside St. Peter’s. There used to be oil paintings but they were transformed, enlarged and re-interpreted in the fine mosaic picture panels that you see up on the walls.

You have to get close to look at the little cracks between the stones to realize that yes, this is not painting. It’s thousands of tiny pieces of colored stone that make up the mosaic jigsaw picture puzzle -- just one of the many astonishing elements in St. Peter’s.

Walking towards the exit along the left aisle you will see several more sculptures, memorials and mosaic pictures, such as the Transfiguration based on Raphael. An ancient bronze tomb with a coffin attached to the wall is notable because it’s from the original Basilica of St. Peter’s and crafted in the Gothic style. Look up and see more domes in a series above the aisle and side chapels. They would be considered large in any normal church but here they are hardly noticed.

One of the last items you will see is a monument to the British Royal family, a memorial to the Stuarts of England , and especially to King James I of Scotland, who was Catholic during that critical period when England had converted to the Protestant religion. This poignant statue of angels in mourning is by Canova, a very important Italian sculptor active in the early 19th century who was also Director of the Vatican Museum.

The popes are all buried downstairs in the crypt, which you can walk through if you wish, but it is rather plain compared to the wonders upstairs. If you want the complete St. Peter’s experience be forewarned: it will take up valuable time and send you out through a side door before you have seen all of the basilica. Better to complete your basilica tour first, then enter the crypt if you wish.

A succession of earlier churches were built on this holy site where it is believed St. Peter was crucified. The first was built by Constantine in the fourth century, which lasted about eight hundred years and then fell apart, followed by another church which also eventually fell into ruins. By the late 15th century the consensus was to completely demolish the previous, crumbling basilica and start from scratch. Construction was a long process, initiated by Pope Julius II in 1506 and continuing until 1626: design, reconstruction, arguments, change of plans and debate during the reign of 20 popes. St. Peter’s was the biggest project in the history of the city.

The vast piazza in front of St. Peter’s is enclosed by Bernini’s colonnades that were designed like the arms of the church reaching out to greet the faithful, enclosed by a colonnade of four rows of columns forming an ellipse, or oval shape. This gave Bernini the chance to create an optical illusion in which the back rows of columns disappear from view when you stand at the focal point of ellipse, marked by a round disk in the pavement. Some say this represents the miracle and mystery of the church, disappearing, then magically re-appearing.

Bernini also designed the dozens of larger than life-size statues of saints and popes along the roofline of the colonnade, making this ensemble the largest work that Bernini ever created. The Egyptian obelisk in the center, which dates to 1300 B.C. and stands 84 feet high, was such a massive challenge to erect here in 1586 that it required hundreds of workers, dozens of capstans, pulley and winches, miles of rope and heroic actions to succeed.

This huge open space offers many different camera angles that will make memorable souvenirs for your scrapbook, so don’t just walk away without fully admiring the scene. As usual, looking back over your shoulder will be rewarding. However, if this is the afternoon as suggested in our scheduling, the facade of the building will be in a shadow because the sun is behind it with backlighting, so try and compensate when you snap your picture. While in the piazza you really should stop and take some photos from the terrific angle that’s in front of St. Peter’s, far enough away to get then entire building in your frame.

When finished with St. Peter’s we suggest you continue into the next phase of this day’s touring, starting with a one-kilometer walk to Castel St Angelo. The walk will then keep going for another kilometer through more beautiful lanes, ending up back at Piazza Navona, as described in the next section.

On the other hand, if you are feeling tired and ready for lunch and a siesta, it is best to leave St. Peter’s by taxi, and save the next walk for later this afternoon or another day. Walk to the taxi stand by exiting the right (south) side of Bernini’s Colonnade along Piazza del Sant'uffizio. There should find plenty of cabs available because Rome has increased the number of taxi licenses. In the past, you often had to wait for 20 or 30 minutes at this taxi stand since there were just not enough taxi licenses in town, controlled no doubt by an aggressive taxi union, but now you should have no problem at all and you’ll quickly be on your way.

Public bus is another option but be warned: there might be pickpockets on board. Of course, there could be pickpockets anywhere in Rome, including inside St. Peter&r

Piazza Navona, S Luigi, S Agostino
Pantheon -- SM Minerva & Ignazio
Trevi, Spagna -- Corso, Colonna, lanes

Walk 2

Campo dei Fiori -- St Andrea, lanes
Chiesa Nuova, Via Giulia
Farnese, Giubbonari, Argentina, Gesu
Ghetto, Turtles, Teatro Marcello
Capitoline, Forum – Colosseum, Monti

Walk 3

Vatican -- Sistine Chapel -- St Peter's
Castel St Angelo, V Coronari, SM Pace

Walk 4

Diocletian, P Republica, San Carlino
Piazza Barberini, Trident, Piazza Popolo

Walk 5

Borghese, SM Maggiore
St John Lateran, Caracalla, Farnesina
Trastevere

squo;s Basilica, so you always have to be alert to that possibility. The best defense is seal your pocket or purse with a safety pin, which will definitely keep those greedy fingers out of your life. Also, don’t carry much money, or your passport, with you when you’re out walking around.

If you still want to take the public bus, there are two choices: bus 49 can be located by going through the the colonnade on that same right side, one block to Viale Vaticano. This popular, crowded bus, the pickpocket’s favorite, will bring you into the center of town and all the way to Termini Station.

Another bus choice is to walk down Via della Conciliazione, towards Castel St Angelo, as we will do anyway in the next phase of this walking tour to Castel St. Angelo. That brings you to the corner of Largo Giovanni the 23rd, where you’ll find an express bus (less likely to have pickpockets) that will take you quickly back into the center of town.

Walk 3 continues at Castel Sant'Angelo