Rome and Related Topics

Italy

32 links

Country that consists of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and several islands surrounding it; its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical region.

Expansion of the territory called "Italy" from ancient Greece until Diocletian

The Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries a symbol of the Kings of Italy

Marco Polo, explorer of the 13th century, recorded his 24 years-long travels in the Book of the Marvels of the World, introducing Europeans to Central Asia and China.

The Italian states before the beginning of the Italian Wars in 1494

Leonardo da Vinci, the quintessential Renaissance man, in a self-portrait (ca. 1512, Royal Library, Turin)

Christopher Columbus leads an expedition to the New World, 1492. His voyages are celebrated as the discovery of the Americas from a European perspective, and they opened a new era in the history of humankind and sustained contact between the two worlds.

Flag of the Cispadane Republic, which was the first Italian tricolour adopted by a sovereign Italian state (1797)

Holographic copy of 1847 of Il Canto degli Italiani, the Italian national anthem since 1946

Animated map of the Italian unification from 1829 to 1871

The Victor Emmanuel II Monument in Rome, a national symbol of Italy celebrating the first king of the unified country, and resting place of the Italian Unknown Soldier since the end of World War I. It was inaugurated in 1911, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy.

The fascist dictator Benito Mussolini titled himself Duce and ruled the country from 1922 to 1943.

Areas controlled by the Italian Empire at its peak

Italian partisans in Milan during the Italian Civil War, April 1945

Alcide De Gasperi, first republican Prime Minister of Italy and one of the Founding Fathers of the European Union

The signing ceremony of the Treaty of Rome on 25 March 1957, creating the European Economic Community, forerunner of the present-day European Union

Funerals of the victims of the Bologna bombing of 2 August 1980, the deadliest attack ever perpetrated in Italy during the Years of Lead

Italian government task force to face the COVID-19 emergency

Dolphins in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Aeolian Islands

Gran Paradiso, established in 1922, is the oldest Italian national park.

The Italian wolf, the national animal of Italy

Köppen-Geiger climate classification map of Italy

The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of Italy.

An Alfa Romeo 159 vehicle of the Carabinieri corps

Group photo of the G7 leaders at the 43rd G7 summit in Taormina

Heraldic coat of arms of the Italian Armed Forces

A proportional representation of Italy exports, 2019

Milan is the economic capital of Italy, and is a global financial centre and a fashion capital of the world.

The Autostrada dei Laghi ("Lakes Motorway"), the first motorway built in the world

FS' Frecciarossa 1000 high speed train, with a maximum speed of 400 km/h

Trieste, the main port of the northern Adriatic and starting point of the Transalpine Pipeline

ENI is considered one of the world's oil and gas "Supermajors".

Solar panels in Piombino. Italy is one of the world's largest producers of renewable energy.

Galileo Galilei, the father of modern science, physics and astronomy

Enrico Fermi, creator of the world's first first nuclear reactor

The Amalfi Coast is one of Italy's major tourist destinations.

Map of Italy's population density at the 2011 census

Italy is home to a large population of migrants from Eastern Europe and North Africa.

Linguistic map showing the languages spoken in Italy

Vatican City, the Holy See's sovereign territory

Bologna University, established in AD 1088, is the world's oldest academic institution.

Olive oil and vegetables are central to the Mediterranean diet.

The Last Supper (1494–1499), Leonardo da Vinci, Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan

Michelangelo's David (1501–1504), Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence

The Birth of Venus (1484–1486), Sandro Botticelli, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Dante shown holding a copy of the Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the mount of Purgatory and the city of Florence, with the spheres of Heaven above, in Michelino's fresco, 1465

Niccolò Machiavelli, founder of modern political science and ethics

Pinocchio is one of the world's most translated books and a canonical piece of children's literature.

Clockwise from top left: Thomas Aquinas, proponent of natural theology and the Father of Thomism; Giordano Bruno, one of the major scientific figures of the Western world; Cesare Beccaria, considered the Father of criminal justice and modern criminal law; and Maria Montessori, credited with the creation of the Montessori education

Statues of Pantalone and Harlequin, two stock characters from the Commedia dell'arte, in the Museo Teatrale alla Scala

Dario Fo, one of the most widely performed playwrights in modern theatre, received international acclaim for his highly improvisational style.

Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot, are among the most frequently worldwide performed in the standard repertoire

Luciano Pavarotti, considered one of the finest tenors of the 20th century and the "King of the High Cs"

Giorgio Moroder, pioneer of Italo disco and electronic dance music, is known as the "Father of disco".

The Azzurri in 2012. Football is the most popular sport in Italy.

Starting in 1909, the Giro d'Italia is the Grands Tours' second oldest.

A Ferrari SF21 by Scuderia Ferrari, the most successful Formula One team

Prada shop at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan

The traditional recipe for spaghetti with tomato and basil sauce

The Frecce Tricolori, with the smoke trails representing the national colours of Italy, during the celebrations of the Festa della Repubblica

The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world.

A unitary parliamentary republic with Rome as its capital and largest city, the country covers a total area of 301230 km2 and shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, as well as the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino.

Roman Empire

29 links

The post-Republican period of ancient Rome.

The Roman Empire in AD 117 at its greatest extent, at the time of Trajan's death (with its vassals in pink)

The Augustus of Prima Porta
(early 1st century AD)

The Barbarian Invasions consisted of the movement of (mainly) ancient Germanic peoples into Roman territory. Even though northern invasions took place throughout the life of the Empire, this period officially began in the 4th century and lasted for many centuries, during which the western territory was under the dominion of foreign northern rulers, a notable one being Charlemagne. Historically, this event marked the transition between classical antiquity and the Middle Ages.

The cities of the Roman world in the Imperial Period. Data source: Hanson, J. W. (2016), Cities database, (OXREP databases). Version 1.0. (link).

A segment of the ruins of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, overlooking Crag Lough

A 5th-century papyrus showing a parallel Latin-Greek text of a speech by Cicero

Bilingual Latin-Punic inscription at the theatre in Leptis Magna, Roman Africa (present-day Libya)

A multigenerational banquet depicted on a wall painting from Pompeii (1st century AD)

Citizen of Roman Egypt (Fayum mummy portrait)

Dressing of a priestess or bride, Roman fresco from Herculaneum, Italy (30–40 AD)

Slave holding writing tablets for his master (relief from a 4th-century sarcophagus)

Cinerary urn for the freedman Tiberius Claudius Chryseros and two women, probably his wife and daughter

Fragment of a sarcophagus depicting Gordian III and senators (3rd century)

Condemned man attacked by a leopard in the arena (3rd-century mosaic from Tunisia)

Forum of Gerasa (Jerash in present-day Jordan), with columns marking a covered walkway (stoa) for vendor stalls, and a semicircular space for public speaking

Reconstructed statue of Augustus as Jove, holding scepter and orb (first half of 1st century AD).

Antoninus Pius (reigned 138–161), wearing a toga (Hermitage Museum)

The Roman empire under Hadrian (ruled 117–138) showing the location of the Roman legions deployed in 125 AD

Relief panel from Trajan's Column in Rome, showing the building of a fort and the reception of a Dacian embassy

The Pula Arena in Croatia is one of the largest and most intact of the remaining Roman amphitheatres.

Personification of the River Nile and his children, from the Temple of Serapis and Isis in Rome (1st century AD)

A green Roman glass cup unearthed from an Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD) tomb in Guangxi, southern China; the earliest Roman glassware found in China was discovered in a Western Han tomb in Guangzhou, dated to the early 1st century BC, and ostensibly came via the maritime route through the South China Sea

Solidus issued under Constantine II, and on the reverse Victoria, one of the last deities to appear on Roman coins, gradually transforming into an angel under Christian rule

Landscape resulting from the ruina montium mining technique at Las Médulas, Spain, one of the most important gold mines in the Roman Empire

The Tabula Peutingeriana (Latin for "The Peutinger Map") an Itinerarium, often assumed to be based on the Roman cursus publicus, the network of state-maintained roads.

A map of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a Greco-Roman Periplus

Workers at a cloth-processing shop, in a painting from the fullonica of Veranius Hypsaeus in Pompeii

Roman hunters during the preparations, set-up of traps, and in-action hunting near Tarraco

Construction on the Flavian Amphitheatre, more commonly known as the Colosseum (Italy), began during the reign of Vespasian.

The Pont du Gard aqueduct, which crosses the river Gardon in southern France, is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.

Cityscape from the Villa Boscoreale (60s AD)

Aquae Sulis in Bath, England: architectural features above the level of the pillar bases are a later reconstruction.

Public toilets (latrinae) from Ostia Antica

Reconstructed peristyle garden based on the House of the Vettii

Birds and fountain within a garden setting, with oscilla (hanging masks) above, in a painting from Pompeii

Bread stall, from a Pompeiian wall painting

An Ostian taberna for eating and drinking; the faded painting over the counter pictured eggs, olives, fruit and radishes.

Still life on a 2nd-century Roman mosaic

Wall painting depicting a sports riot at the amphitheatre of Pompeii, which led to the banning of gladiator combat in the town

The Zliten mosaic, from a dining room in present-day Libya, depicts a series of arena scenes: from top, musicians playing a Roman tuba, a water pipe organ and two horns; six pairs of gladiators with two referees; four beast fighters; and three convicts condemned to the beasts

Boys and girls playing ball games (2nd-century relief from the Louvre)

So-called "bikini girls" mosaic from the Villa del Casale, Roman Sicily, 4th century

Stone game board from Aphrodisias: boards could also be made of wood, with deluxe versions in costly materials such as ivory; game pieces or counters were bone, glass, or polished stone, and might be coloured or have markings or images

Women from the wall painting at the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii

Claudius wearing an early Imperial toga (see a later, more structured toga above), and the pallium as worn by a priest of Serapis, sometimes identified as the emperor Julian

The Wedding of Zephyrus and Chloris (54–68 AD, Pompeian Fourth Style) within painted architectural panels from the Casa del Naviglio

The bronze Drunken Satyr, excavated at Herculaneum and exhibited in the 18th century, inspired an interest among later sculptors in similar "carefree" subjects.

On the Ludovisi sarcophagus, an example of the battle scenes favoured during the Crisis of the Third Century, the "writhing and highly emotive" Romans and Goths fill the surface in a packed, anti-classical composition

The Primavera of Stabiae, perhaps the goddess Flora

The Triumph of Neptune floor mosaic from Africa Proconsularis (present-day Tunisia), celebrating agricultural success with allegories of the Seasons, vegetation, workers and animals viewable from multiple perspectives in the room (latter 2nd century)

Actor dressed as a king and two muses. Fresco from Herculaneum, 30–40 AD

All-male theatrical troupe preparing for a masked performance, on a mosaic from the House of the Tragic Poet

Pride in literacy was displayed in portraiture through emblems of reading and writing, as in this example of a couple from Pompeii (Portrait of Paquius Proculo).

Reconstruction of a writing tablet: the stylus was used to inscribe letters into the wax surface for drafts, casual letterwriting, and schoolwork, while texts meant to be permanent were copied onto papyrus.

A teacher with two students, as a third arrives with his loculus, a writing case that would contain pens, ink pot, and a sponge to correct errors

Mosaic from Pompeii depicting the Academy of Plato

Portrait of a literary woman from Pompeii (ca. 50 AD)

A fresco in Pompeii depicting a poet (thought to be Euphorion) and a female reading a diptych

Statue in Constanța, Romania (the ancient colony Tomis), commemorating Ovid's exile

Brescia Casket, an ivory box with Biblical imagery (late 4th century)

Silver cup, from the Boscoreale Treasure (early 1st century AD)

Finely decorated Gallo-Roman terra sigillata bowl

Gold earrings with gemstones, 3rd century

Glass cage cup from the Rhineland, 4th century

Dionysus (Bacchus) with long torch sitting on a throne, with Helios (Sol), Aphrodite (Venus) and other gods. Fresco from Pompeii.

A Roman priest, his head ritually covered with a fold of his toga, extends a patera in a gesture of libation (2nd–3rd century)

Statuettes representing Roman and Gallic deities, for personal devotion at private shrines

thumb|upright=0.6|The Pompeii Lakshmi, an ivory statuette from the Indian subcontinent found in the ruins of Pompeii

Relief from the Arch of Titus in Rome depicting a menorah and other spoils from the Temple of Jerusalem carried in Roman triumph.

This funerary stele from the 3rd century is among the earliest Christian inscriptions, written in both Greek and Latin: the abbreviation D.M. at the top refers to the Di Manes, the traditional Roman spirits of the dead, but accompanies Christian fish symbolism.

The Pantheon in Rome, a Roman temple originally built under Augustus and later rebuilt under Hadrian in the 2nd century, dedicated to Rome's polytheistic religion before its conversion into a Catholic church in the 7th century

From the accession of Caesar Augustus as the first Roman emperor to the military anarchy of the 3rd century, it was a principate with Italy as the metropole of its provinces and the city of Rome as its sole capital.

Ancient Rome

23 links

A fresco from Pompeii depicting the foundation of Rome. Sol riding in his chariot; Mars descending from the sky to Rhea Silvia lying in the grass; Mercury shows to Venus the she-wolf suckling the twins; in the lower corners of the picture: river-god Tiberinus and water-goddess Juturna. 35-45 CE

According to legend, Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf

Etruscan painting; dancer and musicians, Tomb of the Leopards, in Tarquinia, Italy

This bust from the Capitoline Museums is traditionally identified as a portrait of Lucius Junius Brutus, Roman bronze sculpture, 4th to late 3rd centuries BC

Italy (as defined by today's borders) in 400 BC.

One of the most famous Roman sieges was that of the Celtiberian stronghold of Numantia in present north-central Spain by Scipio Aemilianus in 133 BC

Roman bronze bust of an unknown man, traditionally identified as Scipio Africanus the Elder from the Naples National Archaeological Museum (Inv. No. 5634), dated to mid 1st century BC Excavated from the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum by Karl Jakob Weber, 1750–65

Gaius Marius, a Roman general and politician who dramatically reformed the Roman military

Portrait bust formerly identified as Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Landing of the Romans in Kent, 55 BC: Caesar with 100 ships and two legions made an opposed landing, probably near Deal. After pressing a little way inland against fierce opposition and losing ships in a storm, he retired back across the English Channel to Gaul from what was a reconnaissance in force, only to return the following year for a more serious invasion.

The Battle of Actium, by Laureys a Castro, painted 1672, National Maritime Museum, London

The Augustus of Prima Porta, 1st century AD, depicting Augustus, the first Roman emperor

Extent of the Roman Empire under Augustus. The yellow legend represents the extent of the Republic in 31 BC, the shades of green represent gradually conquered territories under the reign of Augustus, and pink areas on the map represent client states; areas under Roman control shown here were subject to change even during Augustus' reign, especially in Germania.

Bust of Vespasian, founder of the Flavian dynasty

The Roman Empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan in AD 117

The Justice of Trajan (fragment) by Eugène Delacroix

Map showing the location of Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall in Scotland and Northern England

The Pantheon, Rome, built during the reign of Hadrian, which still contains the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world

The Severan Tondo, c. 199, Severus, Julia Domna, Caracalla and Geta, whose face is erased

Bust of Caracalla from the Capitoline Museums, Rome

The Roman Empire suffered internal schisms, forming the Palmyrene Empire and the Gallic Empire

The Aula Palatina of Trier, Germany (then part of the Roman province of Gallia Belgica), a Christian basilica built during the reign of Constantine I (r. 306–337 AD)

The Roman Forum, the political, economic, cultural, and religious center of the city during the Republic and later Empire

The Orator, c. 100 BC, an Etrusco-Roman bronze statue depicting Aule Metele (Latin: Aulus Metellus), an Etruscan man wearing a Roman toga while engaged in rhetoric; the statue features an inscription in the Etruscan language

Representation of a sitting of the Roman Senate: Cicero attacks Catilina, from a 19th-century fresco

Modern replica of lorica segmentata–type armor, worn in conjunction with the chainmail popular after the 1st century AD

Roman tower (reconstruction) at Limes – Taunus / Germany

Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus, c. 122 BC; the altar shows two Roman infantrymen equipped with long scuta and a cavalryman with his horse. All are shown wearing chain mail armour.

A Roman naval bireme depicted in a relief from the Temple of Fortuna Primigenia in Praeneste (Palastrina), which was built c. 120 BC; exhibited in the Pius-Clementine Museum (Museo Pio-Clementino) in the Vatican Museums.

View of Trajan's Market, built by Apollodorus of Damascus

A gold glass portrait of a family from Roman Egypt. The Greek inscription on the medallion may indicate either the name of the artist or the pater familias who is absent in the portrait.

Punishment of Ixion: in the center is Mercury holding the caduceus and on the right Juno sits on her throne. Behind her Iris stands and gestures. On the left is Vulcan (blond figure) standing behind the wheel, manning it, with Ixion already tied to it. Nephele sits at Mercury's feet; a Roman fresco from the eastern wall of the triclinium in the House of the Vettii, Pompeii, Fourth Style (60–79 AD).

Frescoes from the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii, Italy, Roman artwork dated to the mid-1st century BC

Woman playing a kithara, from the Villa Boscoreale, 40–30 BC

A boy holding a platter of fruits and what may be a bucket of crabs, in a kitchen with fish and squid, on the June panel from a mosaic depicting the months (3rd century)

Mosaic of "Big Game" hunters, Sicily, 4th century AD

Gladiator combat was strictly a spectator sport. This mosaic shows combatants and referee, from the villa at Nennig, Germany, c. 2nd–3rd century AD.

The "bikini girls" mosaic, showing women playing sports, from the Villa Romana del Casale, Roman province of Sicilia (Sicily), 4th century AD

Pont du Gard in France is a Roman aqueduct built in c. 19 BC. It is a World Heritage Site.

The Appian Way (Via Appia), a road connecting the city of Rome to the southern parts of Italy, remains usable even today

A vomitorium at the Roman amphitheatre in Trier

Rome and Carthage possession changes during the Punic Wars
Carthaginian possessions
Roman possessions

In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilization from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), Roman Republic (509–27 BC) and Roman Empire (27 BC–476 AD) until the fall of the western empire.

Catholic Church

21 links

Largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptised Catholics worldwide.

The first use of the term "Catholic Church" (literally meaning "universal church") was by the church father Saint Ignatius of Antioch in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans (c. 110 AD). Ignatius of Antioch is also attributed the earliest recorded use of the term "Christianity" (Χριστιανισμός) c. 100 AD. He died in Rome, with his relics located in the Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano.

This fresco (1481–82) by Pietro Perugino in the Sistine Chapel shows Jesus giving the keys of heaven to Saint Peter.

The Last Supper, a late 1490s mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci, depicting the last supper of Jesus and his twelve apostles on the eve of his crucifixion. Most apostles are buried in Rome, including Saint Peter.

19th-century drawing by Henry William Brewer of Old Saint Peter's Basilica, originally built in 318 by Emperor Constantine

The Renaissance period was a golden age for Catholic art. Pictured: the Sistine Chapel ceiling painted by Michelangelo

Ruins of the Jesuit Reduction at São Miguel das Missões in Brazil

While, since the 1960s, Pope Pius XII has been accused of not having done enough to shelter Jews from the Holocaust, his defenders claim he secretly encouraged individual Catholic resistance groups, such as that led by priest Heinrich Maier. Maier helped the allies fight against the V-2, which was produced by concentration camp prisoners.

Members of the Canadian Royal 22e Regiment in audience with Pope Pius XII, following the Liberation of Rome in 1944 during World War II

Bishops listen during the Second Vatican Council

Pope John Paul II was credited as a major influence to the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism. Here with U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, in 1982.

Francis is the 266th and current pope of the Catholic Church, a title he holds ex officio as bishop of Rome, and sovereign of Vatican City. He was elected in the 2013 papal conclave.

C. 1210 manuscript version of the traditional Shield of the Trinity theological diagram

The Blessed Virgin Mary is highly regarded in the Catholic Church, proclaiming her as Mother of God, free from original sin and an intercessor.

Mass at the Grotto at Lourdes, France. The chalice is displayed to the people immediately after the consecration of the wine.

Baptism of Augustine of Hippo as represented in a sculptural group in Troyes Cathedral (1549), France

Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the Eucharist at the canonisation of Frei Galvão in São Paulo, Brazil on 11 May 2007

A Catholic believer prays in a church in Mexico

The Seven Sacraments Altarpiece triptych painting of Extreme Unction (Anointing of the Sick) with oil being administered by a priest during last rites. Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1445.

Priests lay their hands on the ordinands during the rite of ordination.

Catholic religious objects – Holy Bible, crucifix and rosary

East Syrian Rite wedding crowning celebrated by a bishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India, one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the pope and the Catholic Church.

Saint Teresa of Calcutta advocated for the sick, the poor and the needy by practicing the acts of corporal works of mercy.

Pope Paul VI issued Humanae vitae on 25 July 1968.

The administrative body of the Holy See, the Roman Curia, has its principal offices in Vatican City, a small enclave of the Italian city of Rome, of which the pope is head of state.

Papal States

21 links

The Papal States (Stato Pontificio), officially the State of the Church (Stato della Chiesa, ; Status Ecclesiasticus; also Dicio Pontificia), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 until 1870.

The Papal States in 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars

The Quirinal Palace, papal residence and home to the civil offices of the Papal States from the Renaissance until their annexation

Map of the Italian Peninsula in 1796, showing the Papal States before the Napoleonic wars changed the face of the peninsula.

Map of Italy in 1843, showing the Papal States.

Kingdom of Italy in 1870, showing the Papal States, before the Capture of Rome

Bond of the Papal States, issued 9 December 1818.

The Breach of Porta Pia, on the right, in 1870.

At their zenith, the Papal States covered most of the modern Italian regions of Lazio (which includes Rome), Marche, Umbria and Romagna, and portions of Emilia.

Lazio

18 links

One of the 20 administrative regions of Italy.

The Appian Way (Via Appia), a road connecting Ancient Rome to the southern parts of Italy, remains usable even today.

The capital of Lazio is Rome, which is also the capital and largest city of Italy.

St. Peter's Basilica

22 links

View from the Tiber on Ponte Sant'Angelo and the Basilica. The iconic dome dominates the skyline of Rome.

St. Peter and the Apostles on the Facade of St. Peter's Basilica

Bishops at the Second Vatican Council in 1962

Crepuscular rays are seen in St. Peter's Basilica at certain times each day.

An early interpretation of the relative locations of the circus, and the medieval and current Basilicas of St. Peter.

Maarten van Heemskerck - Santa Maria della Febbre, Vatican Obelisk, Saint Peter's Basilica in construction (1532)

A conjectural view of the Old St. Peter's Basilica by H. W. Brewer, 1891

St. Peter's Basilica from Castel Sant'Angelo showing the dome rising behind Maderno's façade.

1506 medal by Cristoforo Foppa depicting Bramante's design, including the four flanking smaller domes

The engraving by Stefan du Pérac was published in 1569, five years after the death of Michelangelo

The dome was brought to completion by Giacomo della Porta and Fontana.

Architectural details of the central part looking upward into the dome

Michelangelo's plan extended with Maderno's nave and narthex

Maderno's façade, with the statues of Saint Peter (left) and Saint Paul (right) flanking the entrance stairs

Maderno's nave, looking towards the chancel

The apse with St. Peter's Cathedra supported by four Doctors of the Church

St. Peter's Basilica and the piazza at night

One of the two fountains which form the axis of the piazza.

Evening aerial view of the piazza and facade

View of Rome from the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica

Air vents for the crypt in St. Peter's Basilica

Cardinals at Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica two days before a papal conclave, 16 April 2005.

The inauguration of Pope Francis in 2013

Silhouette of St. Peter's Basilica at sundown (view from Castel Sant'Angelo).

alt= A marble statue showing a matronly woman in a sweeping cloak supporting a cross which stands beside her and presenting a set of nails to the viewer with her left hand|Saint Helena

alt= This statue shows a Roman soldier, with a cloak furling around him, gazing upward while he supports a long spear with his right hand and throws out his other hand in amazement.|Saint Longinus

alt= This statue shows an elderly man, bare-chested, and draped, looking up despairingly as he supports a large cross, arranged diagonally.|Saint Andrew

alt= This statue shows the saint as a young woman, who, with a sweeping dramatic gesture, displays a cloth on which there is an image of the face of Jesus.|Saint Veronica

alt= A pair of bronze doors divided into sixteen panels containing reliefs depicting scenes mainly from the life of Jesus and stories that he told.|The Holy Door is opened only for great celebrations.

alt= A large memorial set in a niche. The marble figure of a kneeling pope is surrounded by allegoric marble figures, and sculptured drapery surfaced with patterned red stone.|The tomb of Alexander VII, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1671–1678.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/Docs/seminarians4.htm|website=saintpetersbasilica.org|title=The Seminarian GuidesNorth American College, Rome|access-date=29 July 2009}}</ref>

alt= Peter is shown as a bearded man in draped garment like a toga. He is seated on a chair made of marble, and has his right hand raised in a gesture of blessing while in his left hand he holds two large keys. Behind the statue, the wall is patterned in mosaic to resemble red and gold brocade cloth.|The bronze statue of Saint Peter holding the keys of heaven, attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio.

alt= This marble statue shows the Virgin Mary seated, mourning over the lifeless body of Jesus which is supported across her knees.|The Pietà by Michelangelo, 1498–1499, is in the north aisle.

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica (Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal enclave that is within the city of Rome, Italy.

A report on Rome

397 related topics with Alpha