Editing St. Peter's Basilica (section)

==History==
===Saint Peter's burial site===
{{Main|Saint Peter's tomb}}
[[Image:Circus of Nero.png|thumb|A modern conjectural reconstruction of the relative locations of the circus, and the [[Old Saint Peter's Basilica|medieval]] and [[St Peter's Basilica|current]] Basilicas of St. Peter<ref>Based on "[https://web.archive.org/web/20100305113143/http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/images.htm Outline of St. Peter's, Old St. Peter's, and Circus of Nero]".</ref>]]
After the [[crucifixion of Jesus]], it is recorded in the Biblical book of the [[Acts of the Apostles]] that one of his twelve disciples, Simon known as Saint Peter, a fisherman from [[Galilee]], took a leadership position among Jesus' followers and was of great importance in the founding of the [[Christianity|Christian Church]]. The name Peter is "Petrus" in Latin and "Petros" in Greek, deriving from ''petra'' which means "stone" or "rock" in [[Greek language|Greek]], and is the literal translation of the Aramaic "Kepa", the name given to Simon by Jesus. ([[s:Bible (King James)/John#1:42|John 1:42]], and see [[s:Bible (King James)/Matthew#16:18|Matthew 16:18]])

Catholic tradition holds that Peter, after a ministry of thirty-four years, travelled to Rome and met his [[martyrdom]] there along with Paul on 13 October 64 AD during the reign of the [[Roman Emperor]] [[Nero]]. His execution was one of the many martyrdoms of Christians following the [[Great Fire of Rome]]. According to [[Jerome]], Peter was crucified head downwards, by his own request because he considered himself unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2708.htm |title=Jerome, De Viris Illustribus (On Illustrious Men) |website=New Advent |access-date=27 May 2021 |archive-date=17 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717003620/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2708.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The crucifixion took place near an ancient Egyptian obelisk in the [[Circus of Nero]].<ref name=JL-M/>  The obelisk now stands in [[St. Peter's Square]] and is revered as a "witness" to Peter's death. It is one of several ancient [[Obelisks of Rome]].<ref>Frank J. Korn, ''Hidden Rome'' Paulist Press (2002)</ref>

According to tradition, Peter's remains were buried just outside the Circus, on the [[Vatican Hill|Mons Vaticanus]] across the [[Via Cornelia]] from the Circus, less than {{convert|150|m}} from his place of death. The Via Cornelia was a road which ran east-to-west along the north wall of the Circus on land now covered by the southern portions of the Basilica and St. Peter's Square. A shrine was built on this site some years later. Almost three hundred years later, [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]] was constructed over this site.<ref name=JL-M/>

The area now covered by the [[Vatican City]] had been a cemetery for some years before the Circus of Nero was built. It was a burial ground for the numerous executions in the Circus and contained many Christian burials as for many years after the burial of [[Saint Peter]], many Christians chose to be buried near him.{{fact|date=January 2024}}

In 1939, in the reign of Pope Pius XII, 10 years of archaeological research began under the crypt of the basilica in an area inaccessible since the ninth century. The excavations revealed the remains of shrines of different periods at different levels, from [[Pope Clement VIII|Clement VIII]] (1594)  to [[Callixtus II]] (1123) and [[Pope Gregory I|Gregory I]] (590–604), built over an [[aedicula]] containing fragments of bones that were folded in a tissue with gold decorations, tinted with the precious [[murex]] purple. Although it could not be determined with certainty that the bones were those of Peter, the rare vestments suggested a burial of great importance. On 23 December 1950, in his pre-Christmas radio broadcast to the world, [[Pope Pius XII]] announced the discovery of [[Saint Peter's tomb]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Steven |last=Hijmans |title=University of Alberta Express News |work=In search of St. Peter's Tomb |url=http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/article.cfm?id=794 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060125031014/http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/article.cfm?id=794|archive-date=25 January 2006 | access-date=25 December 2006}}</ref>

===Old St. Peter's Basilica===
[[File:Maarten van Heemskerck - Santa Maria della Febbre, Vatican Obelisk, Saint Peter's Basilica in construction (1532).jpg|thumb|right|Maarten van Heemskerck – Santa Maria della Febbre, Vatican Obelisk, Saint Peter's Basilica in construction (1532)]]

[[File:Old St Peter's Basilica, Rome, about the year 1450 restored from ancient authorities.jpg|thumb|right|A conjectural view of the [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]] by H. W. Brewer, 1891|alt=A black and white engraving of a bird's-eye view of a very large cruciform church. There is a large enclosed forecourt which is fronted by buildings of different dates and styles. There is a tall bell tower and many surrounding structures. A label to the bottom left of the image gives the artist's name and original caption.]]
{{Main|Old St. Peter's Basilica}}

Old St. Peter's Basilica was the fourth-century church begun by the [[Emperor]] [[Constantine the Great]] between 319 and 333 AD.<ref name="Cultures and Values">{{citation|last=Cunningham |first=Lawrence |title=Cultures and Values |year=2010 |publisher=Clark Baxter |location=US |page=671}}</ref> It was of typical basilical form, a wide nave and two aisles on each side and an apsidal end, with the addition of a [[transept]] or [[bema]], giving the building the shape of a [[tau cross]]. It was over {{convert|103.6|m|ft}} long, and the entrance was preceded by a large colonnaded [[Atrium (architecture)|atrium]]. This church had been built over the small shrine believed to mark the burial place of [[Saint Peter|St. Peter]], though [[Arab raid against Rome|the tomb was "smashed" in 846 AD]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Peter Partner |title=The Lands of St. Peter: The Papal State in the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance, Volume 10 |date=1972 |publisher=University of California Press |page=57 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bZ6eJuZfTAEC&q=saint+peter+rome+846+desecrating&pg=PA57 |access-date=6 April 2019 |quote=excavation has revealed that the tomb of the apostle was wantonly smashed |isbn=9780520021815 |archive-date=22 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222140056/https://books.google.com/books?id=bZ6eJuZfTAEC&q=saint+peter+rome+846+desecrating&pg=PA57#v=onepage&q=saint%20peter%20rome%20846%20desecrating&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> It contained a very large number of burials and memorials, including those of most of the popes from St. Peter to the 15th century. Like all of the earliest churches in Rome, both this church and its successor had the entrance to the east and the apse at the west end of the building.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dietz |first=Helen |year=2005 |title=The Eschatological Dimension of Church Architecture |journal=Sacred Architecture Journal |volume=10 |url=http://www.sacredarchitecture.org/articles/the_eschatological_dimension_of_church_architecture/ |access-date=10 July 2008 |archive-date=9 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709165515/http://www.sacredarchitecture.org/articles/the_eschatological_dimension_of_church_architecture |url-status=live }}</ref> Since the construction of the current basilica, the name ''Old St. Peter's Basilica'' has been used for its predecessor to distinguish the two buildings.<ref name=met>{{cite journal |last=Boorsch |first=Suzanne |date=Winter 1982–1983 |title=The Building of the Vatican: The Papacy and Architecture |journal=The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=4–8}}</ref>

=== Plan to rebuild ===
By the end of the 15th century, having been neglected during the period of the [[Avignon Papacy]], the old basilica had fallen into disrepair. It appears that the first pope to consider rebuilding or at least making radical changes was [[Pope Nicholas V]] (1447–1455). He commissioned work on the old building from [[Leone Battista Alberti]] and [[Bernardo Rossellino]] and also had Rossellino design a plan for an entirely new basilica, or an extreme modification of the old. His reign was frustrated by political problems and when he died, little had been achieved.<ref name="JL-M" />  He had, however, ordered the demolition of the [[Colosseum]] and by the time of his death, 2,522 cartloads of stone had been transported for use in the new building.<ref name="JL-M" />{{NoteTag|Quarrying of stone for the Colosseum had, in turn, been paid for with treasure looted at the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70)|Siege of Jerusalem]] and destruction of the temple by the emperor [[Vespasian]]'s general (and the future emperor) [[Titus]] in 70 AD.<ref>Claridge, Amanda (1998). ''Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide'' (First ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1998. pp.&nbsp;276–282. {{ISBN|0-19-288003-9}}.</ref>}} The foundations were completed for a new transept and choir to form a domed [[Latin cross]] with the preserved nave and side aisles of the old basilica. Some walls for the choir had also been built.<ref>{{Harvnb|Betts|1993|pp=6–7}}</ref>

[[Pope Julius II]] planned far more for St Peter's than Nicholas V's program of repair or modification. Julius was at that time planning his own tomb, which was to be designed and adorned with sculpture by [[Michelangelo]] and placed within St Peter's.{{NoteTag|Julius II's tomb was left incomplete and was eventually erected in the Church of St Peter ad Vincola.}}  In 1505 Julius made a decision to demolish the ancient basilica and replace it with a monumental structure to house his enormous tomb and "aggrandize himself in the popular imagination".<ref name="BF" />  A competition was held, and a number of the designs have survived at the [[Uffizi Gallery]]. A succession of popes and architects followed in the next 120 years, their combined efforts resulting in the present building. The scheme begun by Julius II continued through the reigns of [[Pope Leo X|Leo X]] (1513–1521), [[Pope Adrian VI|Adrian VI]] (1522–1523), [[Pope Clement VII|Clement VII]] (1523–1534), [[Pope Paul III|Paul III]] (1534–1549), [[Pope Julius III|Julius III]] (1550–1555), [[Pope Marcellus II|Marcellus II]] (1555), [[Pope Paul IV|Paul IV]] (1555–1559), [[Pope Pius IV|Pius IV]] (1559–1565), [[Pope Pius V|Pius V]] (saint) (1565–1572), [[Pope Gregory XIII|Gregory XIII]] (1572–1585), [[Pope Sixtus V|Sixtus V]] (1585–1590), [[Pope Urban VII|Urban VII]] (1590), [[Pope Gregory XIV|Gregory XIV]] (1590–1591), [[Pope Innocent IX|Innocent IX]] (1591), [[Pope Clement VIII|Clement VIII]] (1592–1605), [[Pope Leo XI|Leo XI]] (1605), [[Pope Paul V|Paul V]] (1605–1621), [[Pope Gregory XV|Gregory XV]] (1621–1623), [[Pope Urban VIII|Urban VIII]] (1623–1644) and [[Pope Innocent X|Innocent X]] (1644–1655).

===Financing with indulgences===
One method employed to finance the building of St. Peter's Basilica was the granting of [[indulgences]] in return for contributions. A major promoter of this method of fund-raising was [[Albrecht of Mainz|Albrecht, Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg]], who had to clear debts owed to the [[Roman Curia]] by contributing to the rebuilding program. To facilitate this, he appointed the German [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] preacher [[Johann Tetzel]], whose salesmanship provoked a scandal and led to the [[Protestant Reformation]].<ref>"[[Johann Tetzel]]", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2007: "Tetzel's experiences as a preacher of indulgences, especially between 1503 and 1510, led to his appointment as general commissioner by Albrecht, archbishop of Mainz, who, deeply in debt to pay for a large accumulation of benefices, had to contribute a considerable sum toward the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Albrecht obtained permission from Pope Leo X to conduct the sale of a special plenary indulgence (i.e., remission of the temporal punishment of sin), half of the proceeds of which Albrecht was to claim to pay the fees of his benefices. In effect, Tetzel became a salesman whose product was to cause a scandal in Germany that evolved into the greatest crisis (the Reformation) in the history of the Western church."</ref>

===Digital copies===
In the 2020s, the Vatican began seeking to use digital recreations of the Basilica in order to enhance education and allow people to experience it without needing to visit in person. In 2024, the Vatican partnered with [[Microsoft]] to create an interactive 3D model of the Basilica. The model was generated with artificial intelligence using over 400,000 high-resolution photographs taken by drones. Microsoft president [[Brad Smith (American lawyer)|Brad Smith]] described the project as "one of the most technologically advanced and sophisticated projects of its kind that has ever been pursued".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mares |first=Courtney |title=Discover history of St. Peter's Basilica in new AI-enhanced 3D model |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/260451/discover-the-history-of-st-peter-s-basilica-in-new-microsoft-online-ai-enhanced-3d-model |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=Catholic News Agency |language=en}}</ref> The Vatican further collaborated with Microsoft in 2025 through the creation of another interactive version of the Basilica, this time recreated in the video game ''[[Minecraft]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mares |first=Courtney |title=New Minecraft edition has students restore St. Peter's Basilica |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262825/a-vatican-video-game-new-minecraft-edition-has-students-restore-st-peter-s-basilica |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=Catholic News Agency |language=en}}</ref> The ''Minecraft'' map, titled "Peter is Here", was developed as part of the [[2025 Jubilee]] with the goal of engaging young audiences.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Farrant |first=Theo |date=2025-03-19 |title=You can now tour the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica in Minecraft |url=https://www.euronews.com/culture/2025/03/19/the-vatican-unveils-new-minecraft-game-for-kids-to-virtually-explore-st-peters-basilica |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=euronews |language=en}}</ref>