How to visit and what to see in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican

If you are planning your first sightseeing trip to rome, surely you already plan to visit Vatican City.

There, in addition to the Vatican museums, there is the great St. Peter's Basilica, both monuments of the most visited in the Italian capital.

As you know, it is the great temple of the Christendom what you find in the famous st peter's square. which is visited by thousands of tourists every year.

Many of them go with the intention of attending one of the Pope's audiences, which take place every Wednesday.

Looking ahead to your visit, I can tell you that you will surely be impressed by the dimensions and artistic wealth that you will see inside the St. Peter's Basilica.

Curiosities history St. Peter's Basilica of the Vatican

The incredible magnitude of the building, with its majestic columns and domes, will be one of the aspects that will catch your attention the most.

Therefore, it will not surprise you that when its construction began at the beginning of the 16th century, the architects encountered great difficulties in realizing the ambitious initial project.

Completed in 1626, the St. Peter's Basilica is one of four basilicas of Rome.

As a curiosity you should know that it is not the cathedral of the italian capital, an honor that belongs to the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

With 193 meters in length, it is currently the Christian church with the largest interior dimensions in the world.

With the high altar erected in the place where it is estimated that the tomb of Saint Peter, inside this enormous basilica a large part of the Papas.

To plan your visit you should know that the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica is free, and you can access this great temple of the Christendom from very early.

But you also have to keep in mind that during most of the year for visit St. Peter's Basilica Very long queues form, which on certain dates and times can mean a wait of one or two hours.

How to visit St. Peter's Basilica without lines

To be able to visit it without waiting in line, you have the alternative of signing up for a guided tour of the Vatican.

This type of visit includes access to the Vatican museums, where the famous Sistine ChapelAs well as the St. Peter's Basilica, in both cases without waiting in lines.

The visits are carried out with the company of a guide in spanish, and lasts about three and a half or four hours.

You also have this other alternative, a pass that allows you enter without queues across main monuments of Rome, specifically, in St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums, but also in the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill.

And the most direct and cheapest option to avoid lines is the Priority entry to St. Peter's Basilica, which you will visit on your own with downloadable audio guide in Spanish.

What to see when visiting St. Peter's Basilica

Once you access the interior, you can take a walk through a good part of its three naves, although you will see that most of the interior space has limited access to visitors.

Sculpture of La Pieta in St. Peter's Basilica

The first thing you will find in a corner on the right is the impressive sculpture of Michelangelo's Pietà.

You can't miss it, because in front of this great sculpture you will find a large crowd of tourists.

Bernini's Baldachin in St. Peter's Basilica

Apart from other corners, I want to highlight the impressive Bernini's Baldachin.

El canopy It is the small temple with four columns that used to be placed covering the main altar in medieval churches, and the canopy most famous is precisely that of the St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, which is made of solid bronze.

This canopy was commissioned from the sculptor Bernini by Urban Pope VIII, during whose papacy the construction of St. Peter's Basilica was completed.

Bernini had already done the st peter's square, with its imposing colonnades, and among the various artistic works that he carried out inside the basilica, the canopy It is considered his great masterpiece.

El baldachin of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome He built it during nine years of work, finishing in 1633.

It is a great artistic work that combines architecture with sculpture.

Made with Baroque, with its four tall twisted columns, the canopy It is located above the place where the tomb of Saint Peter, under the main altar.

Its construction was not without controversy because bronze looted from the dome of the Pantheon of Agrippa in Rome, which it's Bernini carried out with authorization of the Pope.

The pity is that during your visit of St. Peter's Basilica You won't be able to get close to appreciating the details. canopy, since you will stay in front of the barrier located at a certain distance and in front of the high altar.

Visit schedules for Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican

As we already mentioned, you have a wide schedule to visit the basilica.

In particular, the opening hours of St. Peter's Basilica They are, from April to September, from 7 in the morning to 7 in the afternoon.

For its part, from October to March it closes half an hour earlier, at 18,30:XNUMX p.m.

If on your trip to Rome you would like see the Pope, here you have information about how to attend the Pope's audience on Wednesdays.

How to climb the dome of St. Peter's Basilica

If inside you visit of St. Peter's Basilica want climb to the large central dome, the hours are in spring and summer from 8 a.m. to 18 p.m., closing the rest of the year one hour earlier.

Keep in mind that in this case access is not free.

Thus, the entrance fee to climb the dome of St. Peter's Basilica It is 8 euros if you do the entire climb (551 steps) on foot.

Now, if you choose go up in elevator to the terrace level, and then only walk up the last flight of 320 steps, the entrance price is 10 euros.

How to visit the Tomb of Saint Peter in the Vatican

In the St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, in Rome, you also have the opportunity to visit the Tomb of Saint Peter and the Necropolis that is underground, in an excavation area.

However, every day there is a limit up to 250 visitors, visiting in guided groups of up to 12 people.

This very special visit lasts an hour and a half and the price of admission it is 13 euros.

For visit of the Tomb of Saint Peter and the Necropolis There are different schedules and groups depending on the languages, and it is essential that you make a reservation in advance to be able to join a group.

The visits are carried out with schedules from 9 in the morning, with a last group at 15,30:16,15 p.m. (XNUMX:XNUMX p.m. from April to September).

For book guided tours, you have to send an email to the address scavi@fsp.va, indicating the dates on which you will be in Rome so that I can assign you, depending on availability, a specific day and time.

You can also sign up directly at the Necropolis Excavations Office, located on the left side of the Bernini's Colonnade, at the entrance of the Via Paul VI.

Once you have the reservation, you must go at least 10 minutes before the scheduled time for the visit to the aforementioned Excavation Office.