2. • Location – Vatican City , Rome
• Architectural Style - Ancient Roman
Architecture
• Catholic church
• Peter’s Basilica begins in the 4th
century when the Emperor
Constantine decides to build a
basilica where the apostle had
been buried.
• It was the first church built after
the death of Saint Peter to memorialize his martyrdom.
• Construction was begun between 326 and 333
• Took about 40 years to complete
• It is a five aisled basilican – plan church with apsed transept at the west
end
3. • The church was
entered through
an atrium called
Paradise that
enclosed a
garden with
fountains.
• From the atrium
there were five
doors into the
body of the
church.
5. • The church was capable of
housing from 3,000 to 4,000
worshipers at one time.
• It consisted of five aisles, a
wide central nave and two
smaller aisles to each side,
which were each divided by
21 marble columns
• It was over 350 feet (110
m) long, built in the shape
of a Latin cross, and had a
gabled roof which was
timbered on the interior
and which stood at over
100 feet (30 m) at the
center
6. • The basilica is cruciform in shape,
with an elongated nave in the
form of a Latin cross
7. • Many of the columns used in Old St. Peter’s were taken from earlier
Roman buildings ; Materials thus reused are known as Spolia
• The group of spiral
columns that
decorated the altar
area had a special
significance , for
they were thought
to have been taken
from the Temple of
Solomon in
Jerusalem
8. • Old St.Peter’s had rather plain brick exterior but the interior was
adorned with precious materials, including Marbles, Roman columns,
Mosaics and Frescoes
9. Old St. Peter’s was torn down in 16th century and and replaced
by New St. Peter’s
