Theandrewconda

St. Peters Basilica Annalists.

Andrew Anderson

Baker College

Vatican City is a popular tourist destination for millions of culturally and racially diverse people every year. It is so very popular as a tourist destination for many different reasons including; its nice warm Italian climate, beautiful architecture long rich history, living place of the head of the largest religion in the world, and for many other reasons. One of them being it is the location of St. Peter’s Basilica, the second largest church in the world and one of the largest most meaningful structures in Vatican City. Some people see St. Peter’s Basilica as a huge mistake and some see it as one of the Church’s greatest accomplishments. Either way St. Peter’s Basilica although shrouded in controversy is an architectural masterpiece for its time and has been an existing usable structure for hundreds of years which gives it a unique history and beauty.

St. Peter’s Basilica was built by the people of the Roman Catholic Church. It was built at a time where the world was filled with chaos, unrest, and violence. There was a danger of a large holy war between Christians and Muslims, tithes were lower than ever because of wide spread poverty, and the reformation of the church was building among the people. The leaders of the church thought that the people of the church needed a symbol. Something that everyone could looks to and be awed by as a way to unite the people of the Church. The church leaders also felt that they needed to show the world that the Roman Catholic Church was as strong and powerful as ever. What they decided to do to send this message to the Church’s people and to the world was to construct a large, one of a kind, beautiful, structure, larger than ever built before. This idea over nearly 100 years for work turned into St. Peter’s Basilica the same structure that exists in Rome Today.

St. Peter is one of the more popular characters in the bible. He is...