View source for Old St. Peter's Basilica

{{Short description|Former church in Rome}}
{{Infobox church
| name = St. Peter's Basilica
| native_name = {{native name|la|Basilica Sancti Petri}}
| caption = 19th-century drawing of St. Peter's Basilica as it is thought to have looked around 1450. The [[Vatican obelisk]] is on the left, still standing on the spot where it was erected on the orders of the [[Emperor Caligula]] in 37 AD.
| denomination = [[Great Church|Catholic Church]]
| status = [[Major basilica]]
| consecration year = {{Circa|360}}{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}
| image = Old St Peter's Basilica, Rome, about the year 1450 restored from ancient authorities.jpg
| country = [[Papal States]]
| style = [[Early Christian art and architecture#Christian architecture after 313|Early Christian]]
| groundbreaking = Between {{start date|326}} and 333
| year completed = {{Circa|360}}
| demolished date = {{Circa|1505}}
| coordinates = {{Coord|41|54|8|N|12|27|12|E|type:landmark_region:VA|display=inline,title}}
| location = [[Rome]]
| diocese = [[Diocese of Rome]]
}}
[[File:Affresco dell'aspetto antico della basilica costantiniana di san pietro nel IV secolo.jpg|thumb|Fresco showing cutaway view of Constantine's St. Peter's Basilica as it looked in the 4th century]]

'''Old St. Peter's Basilica''' was the church buildings that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, where [[St. Peter's Basilica]] stands today in [[Vatican City]]. Construction of the [[basilica]], built over the historical site of the [[Circus of Nero]], began during the reign of Roman Emperor [[Constantine I]]. The name "old St. Peter's Basilica" has been used since the construction of the current basilica to distinguish the two buildings.<ref name="met">{{cite journal | author = Boorsch, 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 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/the_building_of_the_vatican_the_papacy_and_architecture_the_metropolitan_museum_of_art_bulletin_v_40_no_3_winter_1982_1983}}</ref>
[[File:Plan of Circus Neronis and St. Peters.gif|thumb|left|An early interpretation of the relative locations of the [[Circus of Nero]], and the old and [[St Peter's Basilica|current]] Basilicas of St. Peter]]
[[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:Alfarano map.jpg|thumb|left|A map, {{Circa|1590}}, by [[Tiberio Alfarano]] of the interior of Old Saint Peter's, noting the locations of the original chapels and tombs<ref>Reardon, 2004. p. 274</ref>]]
 
[[File:Cortile della Pigna pine cone 2.jpg|thumb|left|150px|{{Lang|it|[[Fontana della Pigna]]|italic=no}} (1st century AD), which stood in the courtyard of the Old St. Peter's Basilica during the Middle Ages and then moved again, in 1608, to a vast [[niche (architecture)|niche]] in the wall of the Vatican facing the Cortile della Pigna, located in [[Vatican City]], in Rome, Italy ]]

==History==
Construction began by orders of the Roman Emperor [[Constantine I]] between 318 and 322, after his [[conversion to Christianity]]<ref>Marian Moffett, Michael Fazio, Lawrence Wodehouse, A World History of Architecture, 2nd edition 2008, pp. 135</ref> and took about 40 years to complete. Over the next twelve centuries, the church gradually gained importance, eventually becoming a major place of pilgrimage in [[Rome]].

[[Papal coronation]]s were held at the basilica, and in 800, [[Charlemagne]] was [[coronation|crowned]] [[Holy Roman Emperor|emperor]] of the [[Carolingian Empire]] there. In 846, [[Saracen]]s [[Arab raid against Rome|sacked and damaged]] the basilica.<ref>Davis, Raymond, ''The Lives of the Ninth-Century Popes (Liber pontificalis)'', (Liverpool University Press, 1995), 96.</ref> The raiders seem to have known about Rome's extraordinary treasures. Some basilicas, such as St. Peter's Basilica, were outside the [[Aurelian walls]], and thus easy targets. They were "filled to overflowing with rich liturgical vessels and with jeweled reliquaries housing all of the relics recently amassed". As a result, the raiders destroyed [[Saint Peter's tomb]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Partner |first=Peter |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 |isbn=9780520021815 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bZ6eJuZfTAEC&q=saint+peter+rome+846+desecrating&pg=PA57 |access-date=6 April 2019 |quote=it was not at this time unusual for Muslims to desecrate Christian Churches for the sake of desecrating them, excavation has revealed that the tomb of the apostle was wantonly smashed}}</ref> and pillaged the holy shrine.<ref>Barbara Kreutz (1996). Before the Normans: Southern Italy in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries. [[University of Pennsylvania Press]] pp. 25–28.</ref> In response [[Pope Leo IV]] built the [[Leonine city|Leonine wall]] and rebuilt the parts of St. Peter's that had been damaged.<ref>Rosemary Guiley, ''The Encyclopedia of Saints'', (InfoBase Publishing, 2001), 208.</ref>

By the 15th century, the church was falling into ruin. Discussions on repairing parts of the structure commenced upon the pope's [[Avignon Papacy|return]] from [[Avignon]]. Two people involved in this reconstruction were [[Leon Battista Alberti]] and [[Bernardo Rossellino]], who improved the [[apse]] and partially added a multi-story [[benediction]] [[loggia]] to the [[Atrium (architecture)|atrium]] façade, on which construction continued intermittently until the new basilica was begun. Alberti pronounced the basilica a structural abomination:

{{blockquote|I have noticed in the basilica of St. Peter's in Rome a crass feature: an extremely long and high wall has been constructed over a continuous series of openings, with no curves to give it strength, and no [[buttresses]] to lend it support... The whole stretch of wall has been pierced by too many openings and built too high... As a result, the continual force of the wind has already displaced the wall more than {{convert|6|ft|spell=in}} from the vertical; I have no doubt that eventually some... slight movement will make it collapse...<ref>{{cite book | author = William Tronzo | year = 2005 | title = St. Peter's in the Vatican | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn= 0-521-64096-2 | page = 16}}</ref>}}

At first, [[Pope Julius II]] had every intention of preserving the old building, but his attention soon turned toward tearing it down and building a new structure. Many people of the time{{who|date=July 2023}} were shocked by the proposal, as the building represented papal continuity going back to [[Saint Peter]]. The original altar was to be preserved in the new structure that housed it. The church was demolished in 1505 and construction of the [[St. Peter's Basilica|new church]] began the following year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of St. Peter's Basilica {{!}} 64 CE to Today |url=https://www.st-peters-basilica-tickets.com/st-peters-basilica-history/ |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=www.st-peters-basilica-tickets.com}}</ref>

==Design==
[[File:Rome basilica st peter 011c adjusted.jpg|thumb|Bronze statue of Saint Peter by [[Arnolfo di Cambio]], dating to the 13th century]]

The design was a typical basilica form<ref name=sob>{{cite book | author = Sobocinski, Melanie Grunow | year = 2005 | title = Detroit and Rome | publisher = The Regents of the Univ of Michigan | isbn= 0-933691-09-2 | page = 77}}</ref> with the plan and elevation resembling those of Roman basilicas and audience halls, such as the [[Basilica Ulpia]] in [[Trajan's Forum]] and Constantine's own [[Aula Palatina]] at [[Trier]], rather than the design of any [[Greco-Roman]] temple.<ref>{{cite book | author = Garder, Helen| date = 2004 | title = Gardner's Art Through the Ages With Infotrac | publisher = Thomas Wadsworth | isbn= 0-15-505090-7 | page = 219|display-authors=etal}}</ref> The design may have been derived from the description of [[Solomon's Temple]] in [[1 Kings 6]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=De la Croix |first1=Horst |last2=Tansey |first2=Richard G. |last3=Kirkpatrick |first3=Diane |title=Gardner's Art Through the Ages |date=1991 |publisher=Thomson/Wadsworth |isbn=0-15-503769-2 |edition=9th |page=[https://archive.org/details/gardnersartthrou00gard/page/260 260] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/gardnersartthrou00gard/page/260 }}</ref>

Constantine took great pains to build the basilica on the site he and [[Pope Sylvester&nbsp;I]] believed to be Saint Peter's grave, which had been marked since at least the second century.<ref name=met/><ref name=Gardner/> This influenced the layout of the building, which was erected on the sloped [[Vatican Hill]],<ref name=Gardner>{{cite book |last1=De la Croix |first1=Horst |last2=Tansey |first2=Richard G. |last3=Kirkpatrick |first3=Diane |title=Gardner's Art Through the Ages |date=1991 |publisher=Thomson/Wadsworth |isbn=0-15-503769-2 |edition=9th |page=[https://archive.org/details/gardnersartthrou00gard/page/259 259] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/gardnersartthrou00gard/page/259 }}</ref> on the west bank of the [[Tiber River]].<ref name=met/> Notably, since the site was outside the boundaries of the ancient city, the apse with the [[altar]] was located in the west, so that the basilica's façade could be approached from Rome itself to the east. The exterior, unlike earlier pagan temples, was not lavishly decorated.<ref name=met/>

The church was capable of housing from 3,000 to 4,000 worshipers at one time. It consisted of five aisles, a wide central [[nave]] and two smaller aisles to each side, which were each divided by 21 marble columns, [[Spolia|taken from earlier pagan buildings]].<ref name=Gardnerb>{{cite book | author = Garder, Helen| date =  2004 | title = Gardner's Art Through the Ages With Infotrac | publisher = Thomas Wadsworth | isbn= 0-15-505090-7 | page = 619|display-authors=etal}}</ref> It was over {{convert|350|ft|m}} long, built in the shape of a [[Latin cross]], and had a [[gabled roof]] which was timbered on the interior and which stood at over {{convert|100|ft|m}} at the center. In the 6th century, an atrium—known as the "Garden of Paradise"—was added at the entrance and had five doors, which led to the body of the church.

The altar of Old St. Peter's Basilica used several [[Solomonic columns]]. According to tradition, [[Constantine I|Constantine]] took these columns from the [[Temple of Solomon]] and gave them to the church; however, the columns were probably from an [[Eastern church]]. When [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]] built [[St. Peter's baldachin|his baldacchino]] to cover the new St. Peter's altar, he drew from the twisted design of the old columns. Eight of the original columns were moved to the piers of the new St. Peter's.

=== Mosaics ===
[[File:Giotto di Bondone - Navicella - WGA09363.jpg|250px|thumb|right|The 1628 full-size copy in oil of the great ''Navicella'' mosaic by Giotto]]
[[File:Engraving of the portico of Old St. Peter's Basilica.jpg|250px|thumb|right|1673 engraving showing the ''Navicella'' mosaic's placement on the basilica]]

The great [[Navicella (mosaic)|''Navicella'']] mosaic (1305–1313) in the atrium is attributed to [[Giotto di Bondone]]. This giant mosaic, commissioned by [[Cardinal Jacopo Stefaneschi]], occupied the whole wall above the entrance arcade facing the courtyard. It depicted [[Miraculous catch of fish#Second miraculous catch of fish|St. Peter walking on the waters]]. This extraordinary work was mainly destroyed during the construction of the new St. Peter's in the 16th century, but fragments were preserved. Navicella means "little ship" referring to the large boat which dominated the scene, and whose sail—filled by storm winds—loomed over the horizon. Such a natural representation of a seascape was known only from ancient works of art.

The nave ended with an arch, which held a mosaic of Constantine and Saint Peter, who presented a model of the church to Christ. On the walls, each having 11 windows, were [[frescoes]] of various people and scenes from both [[Old Testament|the Old]] and [[New Testament]].<ref>"Old Saint Peter's Basilica." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006.</ref> According to combined statements by [[Ghiberti]] and [[Vasari]], Giotto painted five frescoes of the life of Christ and various other panels, some of which Vasari said were "either destroyed or carried away from the old structure of St. Peter's during the building of the new walls."<ref>{{cite book |last=Eimerl |first=Sarel |others=et al |title=The World of Giotto: c. 1267–1337 |url=https://archive.org/details/worldofgiottoc100eime |url-access=registration |publisher=Time-Life Books |year=1967 |isbn=0-900658-15-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/worldofgiottoc100eime/page/102 102]}}</ref>

The fragment of an 8th-century mosaic, the [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]], is one of the very rare remaining pieces of the medieval decoration of Old St. Peter's Basilica. It is kept in the sacristy of [[Santa Maria in Cosmedin]] and proves the high artistic quality of the destroyed mosaics. Another one, a standing [[Madonna (art)|madonna]], is on a side altar in the Basilica of [[San Marco, Florence|San Marco]] in [[Florence]].

<gallery>
File:Navicella mosaic - Fragment in Boville Ernica - dark.jpg|''Navicella'' mosaic – fragment in Boville Ernica
File:Navicella mosaic - Fragment in Vatican - light.jpg|''Navicella'' mosaic – fragment in Vatican
File:Byzantinischer Mosaizist um 705 001.jpg|Mosaic of the Adoration of the Magi, today in Santa Maria in Cosmedin
File:Mater misericordie mosaic St Peter Basilica Vatican.JPG|Mater misericordiae, today in San Marco in Florence
File:Ecclesia romana, XII sec. d.C., mosaico policromo, dalla Basilica di San Pietro.JPG|Mosaic, today in the Museo Barracco
File:Vatican 1016 2013.jpg|Two pairs of the original Solomonic columns now support curved pediments to form [[trompe-l'œil]] [[porticoes]] on the piers of St. Peter's
File:Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae- Grotesque Winding Column in St. Peter's MET DP870256.jpg|Solomonic Column
</gallery>

==Tombs==
{{main|Papal tombs in Old St. Peter's Basilica}}
[[File:Grimaldi sketch.jpg|thumb|A sketch by [[Giacomo Grimaldi]] of the interior of St. Peter's during its reconstruction, showing the temporary placement of some of the tombs]]
Since the crucifixion and burial of Saint Peter in 64 AD, the spot was thought to be the location of the tomb of Saint Peter, where there stood a small shrine. With its increasing prestige, the church became richly decorated with statues, furnishings and elaborate chandeliers, and side tombs and altars were continuously added.<ref name="met" />

The structure was filled with tombs and bodies of saints and popes. Bones continued to be found in construction as late as February 1544.

The majority of these tombs were destroyed during the 16th and 17th centuries' demolition of Old St. Peter's Basilica (save one which was destroyed during the [[Arab raid against Rome|Saracen Sack of the church in 846]]). The remainder were transferred, mostly just the [[sarcophagi]] or coffins and their contents, to modern St. Peter's Basilica, which stands on the site of the original basilica, and a handful of other churches of Rome.

The only papal tombs to survive the demolition and be properly reconstructed in the present St Peter's are the two from the 1490s by [[Antonio del Pollaiuolo]], of [[Pope Innocent VIII]] and [[Pope Sixtus IV]]. These were well-regarded and innovative works, with bronze effigies by a major Florentine sculptor.<ref>Ettlinger, L. D. "Pollaiuolo's Tomb of Pope Sixtus IV", ''Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes'', vol. 16, no. 3/4, 1953, pp. 239–74, [https://doi.org/10.2307/750366 JSTOR]</ref>

Along with the repeated [[translation (relic)|translations]] from the ancient [[Catacombs of Rome]] and two 14th century fires in the [[Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran]], the rebuilding of St. Peter's is responsible for the destruction of approximately half of all papal tombs. As a result, [[Donato Bramante]], the chief architect of modern St. Peter's Basilica, has been remembered as ''Maestro Ruinante''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Patetta|first1=Federico|title=La figura del Bramante nel "Simia" d'Andrea Guarna|date=1943|publisher=Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei|location=Roma|language=it}}</ref>

==''Stefaneschi Triptych''==
{{main|Stefaneschi Triptych}}
[[File:Giotto. The Stefaneschi Triptych (verso) c.1330 220x245cm. Pinacoteca, Vatican..jpg|thumb|180px|Front side. Tempera on wood.  cm 178 × 89 (central panel); cm 168 × 83 c. (side panels); cm 45 c. × 83 c. (each section of the predella).]]
[[File:Giotto. The Stefaneschi Triptych (recto) c.1330 220x245cm. Pinacoteca, Vatican..jpg|thumb|180px|Back side. Tempera on wood.  cm 178 × 89 (central panel); cm 168 × 83 c. (side panels); cm 45 c. × 83 c. (each section of the predella).]]
The '''''Stefaneschi Altarpiece''''' is a [[triptych]] by the Italian medieval painter [[Giotto]], commissioned by [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Giacomo Gaetani Stefaneschi]]<ref>His name is also often found as [[:w:it:Jacopo Jacopo Caetani degli Stefaneschi|Jacopo Caetani degli Stefaneschi]].</ref> to serve as an [[altarpiece]] for one of the altars of Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

It is a rare example in Giotto's work of a documented commission, and includes Giotto's signature, although the date, like most dates for Giotto, is disputed, and many scholars feel the artist's workshop was responsible for its execution.<ref>Gardner, 57–58, gives the documentation from the obituary book of St. Peter's. Most scholars date the altarpiece to c. 1320; Gardner dates it to c. 1300; Anne Mueller von den Haegen dates it to c. 1313; Kessler dates it to between 1313 and 1320.</ref> It had long been thought to have been made for the main altar of the church; more recent research suggests that it was placed on the "canon's altar", located in the nave, just to the left of the huge arched opening into the [[transept]].<ref>Kempers and De Blaauw, 88–89; Kessler, 91–92.</ref> It is now at the [[Pinacoteca Vaticana]], Rome.

== See also ==
* [[List of Greco-Roman roofs]]
* [[Index of Vatican City-related articles]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book | title=''The Vatican: spirit and art of Christian Rome'' | location=New York | publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art | year=1982 | isbn=0870993488 | url=https://archive.org/details/vaticanspirit00metr | url-access=registration }} (pp.&nbsp;51–61)
*[[Kurt Weitzmann|Weitzmann, Kurt]], ed., ''[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15324coll10/id/156533 Age of spirituality: late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century]'', no. 581, 1979, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York, {{ISBN|9780870991790}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Old Saint Peter's Basilica}}
* [http://www.stpetersbasilica.info/Docs/TheMemorial.htm The Constantinian Basilica] Article by Jose Ruysschaert 
* [http://www.stpetersbasilica.info/Necropolis/MG/TheTombofStPeter-1.htm ''The Tomb of St Peter''], book by [[Margherita Guarducci]]

{{Churches and chapels in Vatican}}
{{Rome landmarks}}
{{Papal symbols and ceremonial}}
{{Vatican City topics}}
{{Holy See}}
{{History of the Catholic Church}}
{{Catholicism}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:4th-century churches|Rome, Old Saint Peter]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures demolished in the 16th century]]
[[Category:Sites of papal elections]]
[[Category:Constantine the Great and Christianity]]
[[Category:St. Peter's Basilica|Old Saint Peter]]
[[Category:Palaeo-Christian architecture in Italy]]
[[Category:Destroyed Roman Catholic churches in Rome]]
[[Category:Basilica churches in Rome]]
[[Category:Basilica churches in Vatican City]]