Posted on 08/05/2015 7:34:15 PM PDT by markomalley
The current St. Peter’s Basilica is one of the most beautiful churches in the whole world. With parts of it designed by such greats as Michelangelo and Bernini, it was was built over a 120 year period in the 16th and 17th centuries and remains the largest church in the world.
But it was not the first St. Peter’s Basilica.
Before the current St. Peter’s Basilica there was another church in roughly the same location with the same name, now often referred to as the Old St. Peter’s Basilica.
Here is a 19th century drawing of how the old basilica is believed to have looked:
The Old St. Peter’s Basilica was truly a wonder and treasure of the church. Commissioned by Emperor Constantine in the early 4th century, it served the church for nearly 1200 years. Its altar was built atop what was believed to be the tomb of St. Peter, and its footprint overlapped with the old Circus of Nero – the site of St. Peter’s martyrdom.
This diagram shows the approximate locations of the Circus of Nero, Old St. Peter’s Basilica, and the current St. Peter’s Basilica (click on any image to see it full size):
The Circus of Nero is on the bottom, Old St. Peter’s Basilica is bolded and off to the right, and the current St. Peter’s Basilica is shown with dotted lines and is off to the left.
The small cross next to the obelisk in the center of the Circus of Nero is believed to have been the location of St. Peter’s martyrdom. That obelisk – believed to have been present in the Circus of Nero when St. Peter was martyred and perhaps…
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It will be one of the most breathtaking mosques on earth at the current pace of hope and change....
Beautiful architecture although, even those years ago, much spray painted graffiti was evident there and all through Rome's other great treasures and monuments.
Think more positively, please.
I was there in 2008. I think that’s all cleaned up now. I was awed by the beauty of the basilica. The Vatican museum is incredible. Many paintings and sculptures I thought I would only see in history books or art history books. It was worth the trip. There was so much more to see, but I only had a week. The forum may be decayed, but Rome still is a great city, the Eternal City.
I was there in 1999. The front of St. Peter’s was covered in scaffolding, but it was still the trip of a lifetime.
I was there in 1999. The front of St. Peter’s was covered in scaffolding, but it was still the trip of a lifetime.
It resembled St, John Lateran, which is still there.
That will NEVER happen. “The forces of hell shall never prevail at its gates.”
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