After getting lost in the Vatican Museum, our next order of business was to get lost in the
world’s biggest Christian church, St Peter’s Basilica. The church and the oval-shaped “square” in front of it provide the most recognizable feature of the Vatican City. Tom Hanks ran around a fake version of this in Angels & Demons, and you can run around the real one, as long as you don’t knock anybody over.
Click here for previous chapters of “A Week in Rome.”
The day we were there, the square was full of priests and other Catholic officials in full dress. We weren’t sure what the occasion was. This was a couple of weeks before John Paul II died. On the front of the cathedral you can see the various saints – many armed to the teeth – standing over the passers-by below.
From the entrance of the Vatican Museum, you follow the ancient, well-maintained city walls until your vista suddenly opens up on an enormous piazza, St. Peter’s Square. The day we were there, hundreds of clergy were gathered, snapping pictures and chatting. Columns surround the square on both sides like a pair of tongs.
With all these clergy, you’d think it was the Vatican or something.
We weave through the priestly crowds toward St. Peter’s Basilica. The piazza on which we walk, St. Peter’s Square, is located on the exact spot where Nero had his chariot races going and where he executed St. Peter. We heard that back in the old days the Roman emperors would strap Christians to posts or crosses, douse them in something flammable like tar, and set them ablaze to keep the place nicely lighted during the festivities. I hear they still do that down in Texas to light the hometown football games.
The romance of Rome permeates the square, and as we leave, a couple pose for wedding pictures by the fountain.
It truly is an extraordinary church. Its size, decoration, and place in history take your breath away, no matter your opinion of its current managers.
The altar was especially nice. It’s hard to see in this picture, but in the center of the white stained glass n the middle is a dove flying out of blinding white light.
This woman asks, “why do I have to carry EVERYTHING?”
There is plenty to look at above our heads.
Around the inside of the basilica is an inscription in latin. The section of inscription in the dome area translates as, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and I will give you the keys of heaven .” The section below is near the entrance.
Table of Contents
The Colosseum
Palatine Hill
The Forum
The Pantheon
The Vatican
St. Peter in Chains
Imperial Lion
St. Peter’s Square and Basilica
Atop St. Peter’s Dome
Castel Sant’ Angelo (Pope hideaway on the Tiber River)
Day Trip to Florence
Castel Sant’ Angelo, Continued
St. Paul’s Outside the Walls (Vatican church in Rome’s Suburbs)
Great Fountains of Rome
Musei Capitolini (Capitoline Museum): Romulus and Remus and Random Body Parts
Victor Emmanuel Monument (VE Monument)
National Museum of Rome: A Treasure Vault and Lots of Heads
Wrap-Up-The-First – Summary of the Trip
Wrap-Up-The-Last – Final Summary of the Trip