saint Peter's dome as the talest building of Italy

SAINT PETER'S DOME AS THE TALLEST BUILDING OF ITALY

The story begins in the autumn of 1505. It was then that Julius II took up a task that his immediate predecessor had left dormant. At first the pope merely wanted to complete an expansion of the apse of Constantine's old basilica, utilizing foundations laid during the reign of Nicholas V ( 1477 - 1455 ).

However, as his thought proceeded, the pope became more decided on a complete rebuilding of the early christian church. Among the advisers who were most influential at first were Bramante, who came from Urbino, and the florentine Giuliano da Sangallo. In the definitve design the dome of saint Peter basilica was a longitudinally- ribbed hemisphere with two rows of round dormers. It was supported on a drum ringed by paired freestanding columns forming a round temple.

It was only after Michelangelo's death that his assistant and successor, Giacomo della Porta, raised the dome's curved profile into the ellipsoid we see today. But Michelangelo had earlier made a sketch of just such a dome, so the idea was in the air.

Della Porta change accomplished two things: first it made the dome definitively higher that its august predecessor, Brunelleschi's cupola for the Florence cathedral, sant Maria del Fiore. Second Michelangelo's dome now corresponded more closely in shape to Brunelleschi's. Yet that Michelangelo was all along thinking of Brunelleschi is not to be doubted.

Still today, on one side of saint Peter basilica it is possible to buy the entrance to the elevator or the stairway to the dome that contains 336 steps. From the dome of saint Peter's you can see every notable object of Rome, like Castel sant' Angelo, the Tiber river and the Colosseum and the famous vatican gardens.

In one of the sacristies of saint Peters there is a wooden model of the church commissioned to Michelangelo. This cast, prepared between 1558 and 1561 was the product of years of thought and experiments. Soon after taking up office he wrote to Florence asking for the measurements of the Brunelleschi dome.

Unlike Bramante and Sangallo, he obviously had a double shell structure in mind from the start. In the first studies, both shells have a steep gothic outline, and early drawings for the drum recall the cathderal of Florence.

Technically the dome has 42 meters of diameter like the Pantheon's dome supporting a structure of 16 double ribs in half elliptical curves. Set on arches, the pressure exerted by these is contained by a very strong vault. Sixteen windows in the drum of the dome provide light, in addition to which there is an oculus at the very top, protected by a lantern, bringing the height of the entire basilica to 120 meters ( 360 feet ).

Its majestic mosaics ( 1605) depict God the Father at the center surrounded by Christ, the Virgin, st Paul, st John the Baptist, the apostles, popes and Church Doctors.

If you scare the height, this sightseeing tour is not for you, but if you are able to complete your day tour of the vatican, you will see inside the famous Bernini's canopy and the floor of the church that will appear so little to you that it will look like a multicolored mosaic.