Saint Peter's Church

Saint Peter's Church, or Saint Peter's Basilica, church in Vatican City, Rome. The world's largest Christian church, it is built over the tomb thought to hold the remains of St. Peter, the first pope. The original church was built by the emperor Constantine the Great in the 4th century A.D. but demolished by Pope Julius II in the 16th century to make way for the new building. Among the successive architects to be involved in the creation of the current church were Donato Bramante, who developed the original design on the shape of a Greek cross (from 1506); Michelangelo Buonarroti, who created the great dome (from 1547); and Carlo Maderno, who added the façade and altered the overall proportions to arrive at the shape of a Latin cross (1607–14). The church was dedicated in 1626, but further work continued, most notably by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who created the great elliptical piazza in front of the church (completed 1667) as well as much of the interior detail. The church measures nearly 700 ft (210 m) long and is 450 ft (137 m) at its widest. The nave (main aisle) is 150 ft (46 m) high, while the dome is over 400 ft (120 m) high.