saint Peter's basilica as part of my vatican tour

SAINT PETERS BASILICA AS PART OF MY VATICAN TOUR

Saint Peter basilica is one of the four basilicas of the vatican city in Rome. It was erected by Constantine in honour of saint Peter and no monument in Rome paid greater tribute to his Christian piety.

Saint Peters basilica was the largets of all the buildings of Constantine in Rome.

Like the saint John in Lateran, it was laid out longitudinally as a large hall with an apse in the middle of one of the short sides.
The basilica had an innovative feature in a specially designed transept, inserted between the top of the nave and the apse.
Enormous efforts were made to build the basilica on precisely spot on the Vatican Hill in such a way that the shrine of saint Peter could be included in the transept. A functioning necropolis was partially destroyed by a vast artificial terrace, stretching from near the crown of the hill back towards the city.
Saint Peter's was the most significant basilica which Constantine gave in the fourth century AD the Christian city: its special design of atrium, basilica and transept met the requirements for a large congregation, the preservation of a sacred point in the Christian topography, and the provision of a very large cemetery for the Christian dead.

Few people know that the church stands over a small underground shrine called the Trophy of Gaius. Sections of the floor were removed to reveal an ancient roman cemetery discovered in 1939. According to the Roman catholic tradition, the shrine is also the burial place of saint Peter's. Over the next 1,200 years, the basilica gradually fell to ruins. In 1506, during the height of the renaissance, Pope Julius II decided to rebuild this symbol of Christian faith and the work took 170 years.
Saint Peter's was richly decorated: in the seventh century Honorius plated the altar and the main door with silver, and covered the roof with golden bronze tiles from the temple of Venus. In its atrium was the statue of saint Peter that legend said had been cast from the bronze of the capitoline Jove; when the Byzantine emperor forbade the use of images, and threatened to send troops to destroy it, its foot was already worn with the kisses of the faithful.

Some of the artists who worked on the basilica were Bramante, Michelangelo, Maderno and Bernini. Bernini created the glorious Throne of saint Peter, he built also the colonnade, that wraps around the open space in front of the basilica. Saint Peter basilica owes most of its grandeur to Michelangelo who took over the project in 1547 at the age of seventy-two, and also was responsible for the design of the dome.

VATICAN MUSEUM WALKING TOUR ITINERARY ( 3 hours )

PRIVATE TOUR

VATICAN MUSEUMS
SISTINE CHAPEL
SAINT PETER BASILICA

PEOPLE	COST
FROM 1 TO 2 PEOPLE	170 EURO IN TOTAL
FROM 3 TO 5 PEOPLE	70 EURO PER PERSON
FROM 6 TO 10 PEOPLE	60 EURO PER PERSON

THE PRICE INCLUDES

fluent english speaking private tour guide for 3 hours

THE PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE

taxi transportation from your hotel
entrance fees for the vatican museums: 15 euro each to pay cash

SPECIFICATIONS

the tour guide use to meet the customers at your hotel if it is centrally located;
tour payments will be in cash euro.
student admission at the vatican museums: if part of your family has students, please take with you your student card and you'll pay 9 euro each to get into the museums of the vatican city.
children admission: from 0 to 11 years old free.

THE PROBLEM OF THE LINE AT THE VATICAN MUSEUMS

the best hours to visit the vatican are early in the morning ( meeting you at the hotel at 7.30 am ) or in the early afternoon ( meeting you at the hotel or directly at the vatican at 12.30 pm ).
to enter the vatican city is requested to wear long pants and shirts with half sleeves.
people with shoulders uncovered is not accepted .
if women decide to wear skirts, the skirt's lenght must cover the knees.

THE VATICAN MUSEUMS ARE CLOSED ON SUNDAYS

THE LINE TO ENTER THE VATICAN IS CALCULATED IN AROUND 30 MINUTES EVERY DAY, NO MATTER AT WHAT TIME YOU DECIDE TO GO : THIS IS BECAUSE OF THE PRESENCE OF METAL DETECTOR DEVICES AND THE MANAGEMENT OF THE VATICAN MUSEUMS DOES NOT ACCEPT RESERVATIONS AS WELL DOES NOT PRESALE TICKETS IN ADVANCE.