Official Name: St.

Peter's Basilica, Basilica di San Pietro

Status/Function: Church
Location: Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City
Founded: 1626
Area: 220 metres (length), 150 metres (width), 136.6 metres (height)
Architectural Style: Renaissance and Baroque
Main Architects: Donato Bramante, Maderno, Raphael, Michelangelo, Gian Lorenzo Bernini

St. Peters Basilica - April 18, 1506

12 architects
1. Donato Bramante -The core plan of Bramante was to match the Basilica to a Latin cross, Bramante
The initial plan was created at the request of Pope. Bramante modeled the Basilica after the Roman
Pantheon. Bramante died in 1514. 1st plan GREEK CROSS PLAN. (whose design won Julius II’s
competition)

Piers
The base piers were 45-meters high. To plant the piers, trenches as deep as 25 feet were dug. Designer
Bramante raised the 90 piers to lock them under the coffered barrel vaults at 150 feet. For the Dome,
he placed four piers to the Corinthian Capitals. Bramante was a fan of creating large spaces while fixing
the piers with pilasters. It's also noted that no one in history has ever attempted a massive formation.

Materials
The material Bramante used in the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica was a lime-based sedimentary
rock named travertine. It was very durable and had great strength. The construction team used the
travertine quarried from Tivoli, a mineral-rich town near the Vatican. When Pope Julius II asked the
designer to cut costs, Bramante limited the use of travertine and explored alternative options like
bricks. Marble was another important ingredient. Architects have also used materials sourced from
other buildings.

2. Giuliano da Sangallo- After Bramante’s death, the work went to Giuliano da Sangallo and Fra
Giocondo.

St. Peter’s Basilica, also called New St. Peter’s Basilica, present basilica of St. Peter in Vatican City (an
enclave in Rome), begun by Pope Julius II in 1506 and completed in 1615 under Paul V. It is designed as a
three-aisled Latin cross with a dome at the crossing, directly above the high altar, which covers the
shrine of St. Peter the Apostle. The edifice—the church of the popes—is a major pilgrimage site.

The idea of building the church was conceived by Pope Nicholas V (reigned 1447–55), who was
prompted by the state in which he found Old St. Peter’s Basilica—walls leaning far out of the
perpendicular and frescoes covered with dust. In 1452 Nicholas ordered Bernardo Rossellino to begin
the construction of a new apse west of the old one, but the work stopped with Nicholas’s death. Paul II,
however, entrusted the project to Giuliano da Sangallo in 1470.

Basilica Floor
The floor of St. Peter's Basilica changed in design when Sangallo took over from Bramante. He has raised
the entire floor proposed by Bramante by 12.5 feet. It's believed that Sangallo calculated the possibility
of the Cathedral sinking in the marshy region it was built. To support the structure, he had built parallel
walls in three feet thickness. He has also strengthened the piers Bramante created to accommodate the
changes.

3. Giovanni Giocondo ( & Fra Giocondo) - Giuliano's final work was to assist in the design and
construction of the new St. Peter's Basilica. Fra Giocondo (strengthening of the foundation)

On April 18, 1506, Julius II laid the first stone for the new basilica. It was to be erected in the form of a
Greek cross according to the plan of Donato Bramante. On Bramante’s death (1514) Leo X
commissioned as his successors Raphael, Fra Giovanni Giocondo, and Giuliano da Sangallo, who
modified the original Greek cross plan to a Latin cross with three aisles separated by pillars. The
architects after Raphael’s death in 1520 were Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, Baldassarre Peruzzi, and
Andrea Sansovino.

4. Raphael Santi - After the deaths of Giuliano da Sangallo and Fra Giocondo in 1515, Raphael took over
and added his own modifications to the design. 1st plan LATIN CROSS PLAN. Raphael and Fra
Giocondo (whose redesigned building plan was not executed);

5. Baldassare Peruzzi - He worked for many years with Bramante, Raphael, and later Sangallo during the
erection of the new St. Peter's.

6. Antonio da Sangallo ( Sangallo the Younger) - Antonio worked on St. Peter’s, first as Bramante’s
assistant and in 1520 as chief architect. His wooden model of St. Peter’s (1539–46), commissioned by
Pope Paul III, still stands in the Vatican Museum. Antonio da Sangallo, a student of Bramante (the Pauline Chapel)

After the sack of Rome in 1527, Paul III (1534–49) entrusted the undertaking to Antonio da Sangallo the
Younger, who returned to Bramante’s plan and erected a dividing wall between the area for the new
basilica and the eastern part of the old one, which was still in use. On Sangallo’s death (1546) Paul III
commissioned the aged Michelangelo as chief architect, a post he held under Julius III and Pius IV.

7. Michaelangelo Bonaroutti - modified the final design to include the supporting piers to hold the
massive dome, who first desisted, designed the Dome and helped the structure as we see it today.
Not only does the exterior of this towering dome look impressive, but the interiors are spellbindingly
beautiful, adorned with vibrant mosaics and sumptuous stucco ornaments. Michelangelo (design of the
dome, crossing, and exterior excluding the nave and facade)

Above this, the dome is divided into sixteen ribs decorated by 96 figures, followed by a star-spangled
night sky, on top of which is the lantern.

At the time of Michelangelo’s death in 1564, the drum for the massive dome was practically complete.
He was succeeded by Pirro Ligorio and Giacomo da Vignola.

Dimensions
An architectural marvel, St. Peter's Basilica is 452 feet high; Its dome is the tallest in the world. The
Basilica is 730 feet in length, and its interior is almost 693 feet. The entire area of the building and its
surroundings is 5.7 acres. The interior is 15,160 square meters in area. The internal diameter of the
dome, designed by Michelangelo, is 41.47 meters, breaking the record of Old Roman buildings from that
age including the Pantheon.

8. Giacomo della Porta

Gregory XIII (1572–85) placed Giacomo della Porta in charge of the work. The dome, modified from
Michelangelo’s design, was finally completed at the insistence of Sixtus V (1585–90), and Gregory XIV
(1590–91) ordered the erection of the lantern above it. Clement VIII (1592–1605) demolished the apse
of Old St. Peter’s and erected the new high altar over the altar of Calixtus II. Giacomo della Porta (design
of the cupola)

Della Porta gave a higher, more pointed profile than Michelangelo had intended to the dome of St.
Peter’s; it became the prototype of the Baroque dome.

The dome was undertaken with the best engineer-architect of the age, Domenico Fontana, and they
modified Michelangelo's original design considerably. It is still not known whether they increased the
height of the dome by about 27 feet because they thought that had been Michelangelo's intention or
because they were forced to do so by the engineering problems they encountered. Michelangelo
certainly planned a dome which was a perfect hemisphere, but he also designed one in the slightly
pointed shape of the executed dome. What is certain is that they created one of the most beautiful
domes ever built.

9. Domenico Fontana - He collaborated with Giacomo della Porta on the completion of St. Peter’s dome
(1588–90) from Michelangelo’s model.

the removal of the Vatican obelisk from its old location behind the sacristy of St. Peter's, where it had
been since the reign of CaligulaOffsite Link, to its present location in the center of the Piazza of St. Peter.
The problem of transporting this 327 ton and fragile stone tower had occupied Italian engineers for
many years, so that when Pope Sixtus V Offsite Link appointed a council to consider ways and means of
moving the obelisk, nearly 500 men came to submit their plans.

10. Barocchio da Vignola / Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola - After the death of Michelangelo in 1564,
Vignola continued work at St Peter's Basilica and built two smaller domes according to Michelangelo's
plans. Vignola eventually took his own Mannerist ideas to Vatican City.

11. Carlo Maderna - was primarily known for his work on the nave and facade of the Basilica, after being
appointed by the Pope in 1602. Final Plan from of a LATIN CROSS. Designed by Carlo Maderno, the
facade features a giant order of Corinthian columns (each 90 feet high) and is topped by thirteen
statues - Christ flanked by eleven of the Apostles (excluding Peter) plus John the Baptist. The
construction of the facade had begun in 1607, but the first stone was laid only in 1608. In 1612 the
entire structure was completed. Carlo Maderno (extension of Michelangelo’s plan, adding a nave and
grand facade);

Paul V (1605–21) adopted Carlo Maderno’s plan, giving the basilica the form of a Latin cross by
extending the nave to the east, thus completing the 615-foot- (187-metre-) long main structure.
Maderno also completed the facade of St. Peter’s and added an extra bay on each end to support
campaniles. Although Maderno left designs for these campaniles, only one was built, and that was of a
different design executed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1637. Under the commission of Alexander
VII(1655–67) Bernini designed the elliptical piazza, outlined by colonnades, that serves as the approach
to the basilica.

12. Gian Lorenzo Bernini - finally took over and created many iconic elements inside the Basilica
including St. Peter’s Chair and the Baldacchino. Erected the entrance (trapezoidal) piazza (From above,
the piazza resembles the shape of a keyhole) surrounded by 284 Iconic Columns Doric (unfluted
columns) to the St.Peter’s Basilica. a forecourt encircled by a Doric colonnade derived from Greek
architecture. Bernini conceived the piazza (1656-67) as an enormous oval framed by two colonnades of
284 columns and 88 pillars (travertine marble) in four rows. Topped by an entablature with 140 statues
of saints, the curved colonnades embrace a 650-foot-long oval like "the motherly arms of the church," as
Bernini said. In Bernini's bronze canopy, he employs twisted marble columns called "solomonicas"
which were thought to have come from Solomon's Temple. Gian Lorenzo Bernini (addition of the piazza,
the Cathedra Petri, and the Baldacchino).

Dome of St. Peter's basilica architects

1. Bramante
2. Sangallo
3. Michaelangelo
4. Della Porta & Fonta

St. Peter's Basilica Exterior

The most important attraction of St. Peter's Basilica is its long forecourt, St. Peter's Square, inspired by
Greek style. The exterior of the Basilica is decorated with sculptures. On the facade, ornate Corinthian
Columns bearing the statues of Jesus' apostles are visible. There are two giant statues of St. Peter and
St. Paul placed on the entrance as well.

St. Peter's Basilica Interior

As St. Peter's Basilica is one of the most beautiful examples of Renaissance architecture, it sure has a list
of invaluable treasures inside, in terms of design elements as well as artefacts. The list of works includes
Michelangelo's Pieta, Bernini's bronze Baldacchino, and St. Peter's chair. A neoclassical sculpture of
Pope Pius VI is also considered a masterpiece, among other Papal monuments.

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Palazzo Farnese, Roman palace that serves as an important example of High Renaissance architecture.
It was designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and built between 1517 and 1589.