San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome

San Pietro in Vincoli is a fifth century church built to house the chains (vincoli) with which Saint Peter was bound in Jerusalem. The chains were given to Pope Leo I, who compared them to St. Peter's chains from the Mamertine Prison. The two chains miraculously fused together. The church has been rebuilt several times but has the original Doric columns in the nave.

San Pietro in Vincoli

Nave

The ceiling fresco is the Miracle of the Chains by Giovanni Battista Parodi in 1705.

Miracle of the Chains fresco

The reliquary with the chains is right under the main altar, where they also set up the most modest nativity scene we saw in any Roman church (our Roman visit was back in early January 2014).

Main altar

J by the chains and the nativity

The nativity

The chains

The church is also known for Michelangelo's Tomb of Pope Julius II. The original plan was for a vast tomb with over 40 statues, but other projects (like St. Peter's Basilica and The Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel) got in the way. Michelangelo did sculpt an amazing statue of Moses as part of the tomb.

Front view of Tomb of Pope Julius II

Moses looking at you

Moses

The statue is famous for the fineness of its working and for the two horns on Moses's head. In Hebrew, the words for "beams of light" and "horns" are very close, and naturally it's easier to sculpt horns than beams of light.

Several other grim but fascinating tombs line the church's interior walls.

Tomb with skeletons

Tomb of Cardinal Aldobrandini

Mosaic of St. Sebastian

More decorations at the back of the church

St. Peter's, Rome

St. Peter's has a long history in Rome. The church is built over the Circus of Nero where Peter was crucified. He was buried nearby. The first shrine was built on St. Peter's tomb in the second century. Emperor Constantine built a large basilica in AD 349. By the 1400s, the basilica was falling apart. In 1506, Pope Julius II began a new basilica which took over a hundred years to build.

St. Peter's

The porch has several large bronze doors, including the Porta Santa, or Holy Door, which is only opened on Holy Years by the Pope. He uses a small bronze hammer to knock on it. It remains open for the entire year and people may enter through it. Other doors include the center door that was made in the 1450s for the original basilica and the Door of the Sacraments that was made in the 1950s.

Central Door

Detail from the Door of the Sacraments

Detail from the porch ceiling

The nave is 615 feet long with a large number of altars and chapels down the sides. The scope is quite breathtaking.

Nave

One side altar

A transept

The Papal Altar dates from 1600s and was built over the tomb of Peter. The Baldacchino is an amazing bronze canopy designed by Bernini in the 1600s.

Main altar and baldacchino

The baldacchino (as close as we could get)

The top of the baldacchino and medallion of an evangelist

The main altar is also surrounded by four niches that house relics from Christ's Passion. The relic of the True Cross has a statue of St. Helena (Emperor Constantine's mother and the discoverer of the relic).

St. Helena by A. Bolgi

The Dome of St. Peter's was designed by Michelangelo and is an incredible sight both inside and outside. Sadly, I did not get a good angle on the inside. Also by Michelangelo is the Pieta, one of his most famous statues and an early work for him (completed when he was 25 in 1499). It is located in one of the front chapels and protected behind a wall of glass since one visitor damaged it in 1972.

Pieta

Another famous work in St. Peter's is Raphael's last painting, The Transfiguration. It depicts Christ on Mount Tabor, flanked by Moses and Elijah while Peter, James, and John are awestruck.

Raphael's Transfiguration

The statue of St. Peter near the main altar dates from the 1200s and was made by Arnolfo di Cambio. It is a popular stop for people visiting the church. Visitors rub Peter's foot for good luck. The foot is starting to wear away. Alas, the preparations for New Years Day Mass put the statue out of reach for us.

St. Peter (losing his toes!)

In addition to St. Peter, many other popes are buried in the basilica. A list is kept in a side room (with plenty of space for newcomers).

The Latin at the top says, "Supreme Pontiffs buried in this Basilica"

Pope Innocent XI (1676-1689) flanked by Faith and Fortitude

Pope Pius XI (1922-1939)

Pope Gregory XIII (1572-1585)

Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846)

Pope Innocent XII (1691-1700) flanked by Charity and Justice

Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922), who worked for peace during World War I

Pope Saint Pius X (1904-1914)

Pope Pius VII (1800-1823)

One of the non-papal monuments is to the Monument to the Stuarts. The monument is dedicated to James III, son of King James II who was the last Stuart to reign in England. James III lived in exile after his father was deposed in 1688. Invading Prince William of Orange was declared King of England in James II's absence. Also buried in this tomb are James III's sons Bonnie Prince Charlie and Henry (who by all rights should have been King Henry IX(!), though he was a Catholic bishop so the house of Stuart would have ended with him) are also buried in this tomb.

Monument to the Stuarts

Being Christmas time when we visited, St. Peter's had a nativity inside.

Nativity from the right

Detail

Nativity from the left

There are tons of other things to see in the church. Also, the view from the dome is quite spectacular in good weather. The weather wasn't so good when we visited and J and L were unlikely to climb all the way to the top, so we opted for other sightseeing in Rome.

Piazza San Pietro, Rome

Our visit to St. Peter's Basilica started with the long line in the Piazza San Pietro. We knew we were supposed to get there early, but we just didn't get out of the apartment early. Plus, we couldn't find any tobacconist or newsstand that had bus tickets for sale! It was the day before New Year's Eve, so maybe they didn't want to get stuck with 2013 passes in 2014? No one explained, so I've made this assumption. Regardless, St. Peter's is easy to find since it sticks out over other buildings. It was longer to walk than to ride.

Approaching from our hotel

We came into the piazza from the southern side through the massive colonnade.

Into the piazza...

...onto the line

The piazza has a magnificent obelisk that was erected in 1586 but dates back to the Roman times when the area was a circus and even further to Egypt. That circus was probably where St. Peter was killed by being crucified upside down. He did not want to die the same way as Jesus because he thought he was unworthy. While we visited, the life-size nativity was still up, which the children enjoyed immensely.

Nativity

J and L smiling their best in the rain

Like many churches we have visited on our journeys, this one has some scaffolding for restoration work. Luckily it was at the end of one of the colonnades, and didn't really disrupt us or our view.

At least there wasn't a "Under New Management" sign

St. Peter's is at the head of the piazza and has two large statues, one of Peter and another of Paul. Preparations were underway for a big New Year's Day Mass (which we didn't attend since the kids weren't ready for a two to three hour Mass), so the saints had their jumbotrons ready.

St. Peter's

St. Paul with jumbotron

St. Peter with jumbotron

The piazza also has the Vatican Post Office (which is apparently more reliable than the Italian Post Office). For the holidays, they added a mobile office as well.

Vatican Post Office

For the overflow crowd

A popular sight in the Vatican is the Swiss Guards, men who have volunteered to provide security for the Vatican. Their uniforms are quite colorful, but on the rainy and dreary day when we visited they had their overcoats on.

Swiss Guards on duty

Soon enough, we made it to the head of the line and went into the church itself. Which we'll see in the next post!

J and L, just before entering

J and L make their escape later in the day...