The centre of the Roman Catholic faith, St Peters Rome attrcts pilgrims from all over the world. Few are disappointed when they enter the extravagantly decorated basilica beneath Michelangelo's vast dome.
A shrine was erected on the site of St Peter's tomb in the 2nd century and the first great basilica, ordered by the Emperor Constantine, was completed around AD 349. By the 15th century it was falling down, so in 1506 Pope Julius II laid the first stone of a new church. It took more than a century to build and all the great architects of the Roman Renaissance and Baroque had a hand in its design.
Charles Edward Stuart also know as Bonnie Prince Charlie was born and buried in Rome? His tomb is inside St Peters and he is the only non religious figure to be buried here on account of his brother being a cardinal. |
