Editing St. Peter's Basilica (section)

====Bernini's Towers====
[[Pope Urban VIII|Pope Urban]] had long been a critic of Bernini's predecessor, Carlo Maderno. His disapproval of the architect's work stemmed largely from  Maderno's design for the longitudinal nave of St. Peters, which was widely condemned for obscuring Michelangelo's dome. When the Pope gave the commission to Bernini he therefore requested that a new design for the facade's bell towers to be submitted for consideration. Baldinucci describes Bernini's tower as consisting of "two orders of columns and pilasters, the first order being [[Corinthian order|Corinthian]]" and "a third or attic story formed of pilasters and two columns on either side of the open archway in the center".

Pope Urban desired the towers to be completed by a very specific date: 29 June 1641, the feast day dedicated to [[Feast of Saints Peter and Paul|Saints Peter and Paul]]. To this end an order was issued which stated that "all work should take a second seat to that of the campanile". The south tower was completed on time even in spite of these issues, but records show that in the wake of the unveiling the Pope was not content with what he saw and he ordered the top level of Bernini's tower removed so that the structure could be made even grander. The tower continued to grow, and as the construction began to settle, the first cracks started to appear followed by Urban's infamous public admonishment of his architect.

In 1642 all work on both towers came to a halt. Bernini had to pay the cost for the demolition; eventually the idea of completing the bell towers was abandoned.

[[File:San Pietro in Vaticano 4.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The narthex|alt=Photo shows view of vestibule with three huge doorways leading to the church's interior. The doors are framed by columns and have pediments. The floor is of inlaid marble. The nearest doorway is closed by two huge ancient bronze doors. A group listens to a tour guide while one woman examines the doors.]]