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St. Peter's Basilica

Shrine & Basilica Not Applicable
Vatican City, Vatican City 1506-1626 Feast day: June 29

The great basilica over the tomb of St. Peter and the center of Catholic pilgrimage in Rome.

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The Story

St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City is the largest church in Christendom and the spiritual heart of Catholic Rome, built over the place where tradition holds that St. Peter, chief of the apostles, was buried after his martyrdom under the emperor Nero around the year 64-67. Peter, the Galilean fisherman to whom Christ said, 'You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church' (Matthew 16:18), came to Rome and, according to the constant tradition of the early Church, was crucified in Nero's circus on the Vatican Hill and buried in the cemetery nearby. In the fourth century the emperor Constantine raised a great basilica directly over the venerated grave — an extraordinary engineering choice that only makes sense if the tomb's location was firmly fixed in Christian memory. When the old basilica grew unsound, the popes undertook its rebuilding between 1506 and 1626, enlisting Bramante, Michelangelo, Maderno, and Bernini. The result is the present basilica, whose dome crowns the skyline of Rome and whose papal altar, sheltered by Bernini's bronze baldachin, stands directly above the tomb of the apostle. Excavations beneath the basilica in the twentieth century uncovered the ancient necropolis and a monument to Peter dating to about A.D. 150; in 1968 Pope St. Paul VI announced that relics discovered there had been identified as those of the apostle in a manner the Church considers convincing, while scholars continue to study the site. St. Peter's is the setting of the great papal liturgies, canonizations, and Jubilee celebrations, its Holy Door opened in each Holy Year. For pilgrims, to pray at the tomb of Peter is to touch the apostolic foundation of the Church and the unbroken line of the successors of Peter.

Church Recognition

St. Peter's is one of the four papal major basilicas and the principal church of the popes; following the twentieth-century excavations beneath it, Pope St. Paul VI announced in 1968 that relics found at the site had been identified as those of St. Peter in a manner the Church regards as convincing.

Catholic Teaching

The basilica embodies the Church's teaching on the Petrine ministry — Christ's commission to Peter and his successors as visible source of the Church's unity (CCC 880-882) — as well as apostolic succession (CCC 857-862) and the veneration of the apostles' relics (CCC 1674).

Plan Your Visit

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Practical

Additional Information

Pilgrims venerate the tomb of St. Peter beneath the papal altar; one of the four papal major basilicas.

Go Deeper

Visit the basilica's official website at https://www.basilicasanpietro.va, arrange a Scavi tour of the necropolis through the Fabbrica di San Pietro, read the Catechism on the Petrine office (CCC 880-882), and see John Evangelist Walsh's The Bones of St. Peter on the excavations.

Location

Visit the official website ↗ See it on the interactive map →

In the Area

Other sacred sites within 40 miles.