Overview

The Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli is more than just a building of great beauty and majesty. It is also one of the most complex and chronologically complete Renaissance and modern urban archaeological structures in Rome. It stands on top of the Esquiline Hill north of the Colosseum not far from the baths of Trajan and near the area once occupied by the Domus Aurea. The layers underlying the basilica date as far back as Early History and run through the Republican and Classical Ages up to late Antiquity. The building bears important traces of medieval restoration work but most remarkable are interventions undertaken during the Renaissance by the great cardinals who were titulars of the basilica and who deeply loved and honored it. Some of these men became celebrated popes such as Sixtus IV (1471-1484), Julius II (1503-1513) and later Pius IX (1846-1878). Signs of their powerful interventions may still be admired today. Upon entering the basilica one is immediately struck by the two rows of mighty Doric columns dividing the wide central nave from the aisles. The building is home to celebrated works of art such as the tomb of Julius II with Michelangelo's Moses, the mosaic icon of St. Sebastian from the end of the VII century, the confession or Crypt with its precious case containing Saint Peter's chains after which the basilica is named. There are also numerous painting and sculptures attributed to artists like Jacopo Coppi, Guercino, Domenichino, Pomarancio, Giovanni Battista Parodi, Mino da Fiesole.

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