St. Peter’s Basilica
Practical information:
To get to Rome’s most important basilica, Saint Peter’s from the Hostel Chaplin Bed and Breakfast Rome is very easy. Walk to Roma Termini and take the metro (line A, 6 stops, to Ottaviano-San Pietro). Take the first exit on your left and follow (shuffle behind) everybody else.
The basilica is open every day of the year, from 7am until 7pm (except during the winter months, when it closes at 6pm). The phone numbers are 06 69881662 and 06 69883462.
The general dress code for Rome’s churches and basilicas is that your knees and shoulders have to be covered. This rule does not get enforced equally strictly in all churches, but it definitely does in Saint Peter’s, so if you visit Rome in the summer and you prefer walking around in shorts, make sure that you have a longer skirt or a pair of jeans with you to slip on before entering Saint Peter’s.
General information
The official name of Saint Peter’s Basilica is Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano. It is the second among the 4 major Roman basilicas (after St. John Lateran). Contrary to what you would expect it is the Lateran basilica which is the patriarchal basilica of Rome , whereas Saint Peter’s is the patriarchal basilica of Constantinople.
It is the burial site of Saint Peter, one of the twelve apostles, who was also the first bishop of Rome. Saint Peter’s tomb is supposed to be below the baldachino and altar, even though there is no indication in the New Testament that Peter ever set foot in Rome.
Many Popes, including the very first ones, have been buried there as well.
The basilica as it is now was built over the Constantinian Basilica. Work started on April 18th of the year 1506 and was finished in 1626.
Due to its size and its location inside the Vatican City it is the principal church of the Catholic religion, even though St. John Lateran is the Pope’s ecclesiastical seat. Most papal ceremonies are performed inside Saint Peter’s.