St Peter's Basilica in Rome by Silva Wischeropp

About "St Peter's Basilica in Rome"

by Silva Wischeropp

About the artwork

The Basilica of St Peter in the Vatican (Italian: San Pietro in Vaticano) in Rome, commonly called St Peter's Basilica in German-speaking countries due to its size and importance (also Basilica Sancti Petri in Vaticano, St Peter's Basilica, Vatican Basilica or Templum Vaticanum), is the memorial church of the Apostle Simon Peter. It is located on the territory of the independent state of Vatican City and is one of the seven pilgrimage churches of Rome. With a built-up area of 20,139 m² and a capacity of 20,000 people, St Peter's Basilica is the largest of the papal basilicas and one of the largest and most important churches in the world.

The predecessor of today's St Peter's Basilica, Old St Peter's, was built around the year 324 by Constantine the Great over the presumed tomb of St Peter. The current building was begun in 1506 and was largely completed in 1626.
From the middle of the 13th century, St Peter's Church was also the patriarchal basilica of the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople. After the dissolution of the patriarchate in 1964, this title was continued. Since Pope Benedict XVI relinquished the title of Patriarch of the West in 2006, St Peter's has been referred to as the Papal Basilica.

Popes have resided near St Peter's Basilica since the end of the 14th century. However, it is neither the cathedral of the diocese of Rome nor the officially highest-ranking Roman Catholic church building - the Lateran Basilica has held both functions since time immemorial.