St. Peter's Church

St. Peter's church is extremely majestic. I had no idea a church could be that big. But it can. I can think of several Swedish churches that will fit inside.

St. Peter's Square in a giant panorama (1.6 MB)

St. Peter's Church the pride of the Vatican, built on top of what is presumed to have been the grave of the apostle Peter. The church is 212 metres long and 133 metres high and took slightly over 120 years to build. But, then it's a good one.

A Walk Towards the High Altar

The image of a dove in flight, the symbol of the Holy Spirit, goes through all the church. It is everywhere, in cupolas, on frescoes and on altars. When you enter the church you will see the most beautiful dove, back-lit above the high altar. The pictures below show a walk through the whole church.

Walk to the high altar. Go down.

By the entry, with a 28 mm wide-angle lens.

A bit farther, with a 50 mm standard lens.

All pillars and walls are covered with statues of saints and popes.

We pass by Bernini's bronze baldachin, the grave of the apostle Peter.

As we reach the far nave, it's the dove catching the eye.

Above, three other pictures of the bronze baldachin, from an aisle and from the main nave. I was lucky with the dusty air, giving nice rays of light.

Still closer to the glory of the Lord.

It's fantastic!

A Study in Cupolas

St. Peter's is a church of many cupolas. Here is a little cupola suite.

The noblest and largest of all the cupolas is Michelangelo's. It is right over the bronze baldachin. Note the dove in the baldachin roof.

Three other cupolas that weren't bad either.

A round one.

Actually, I would have wanted to lie down on the floor to shoot the cupolas (to get more of them), but as soon as you leaned against the wall a guard in uniform appeared, pointing out the impropriety of leaning against Christianity.

Popes on the Wall

Many of the earlier popes are carved in stone, along the walls. Here are some of them.

The two leftmost pictures show Pope Pius X (The Meek) and the right one is Pope Innocentius XII (The Innocent). The picture to the far left is the nicest one. The tasty blue colour is heavenly light shining in from some window.

The pictures in this suite may seem serene and calm, but I can assure you that at least 100 Japanese passed before the camera between each exposure. And I saw no electric sacrificial candles here. This is the Vatican, not Italy. The Vatican has style. Continue by all means with the Panorama Gallery. You'll find a nice picture of St. Peter's square there.

Comments

Some vistors to this website send me letters of appreciation afterwards. Here is one:

Greetings, great bringer of visual impressions... Have been to St. Peter's Church today thanks to you... Thank you for a beautiful experience on a cold winter's day.
With Appreciation
Leif Johansson [of Sweden]

	Walk to the high altar. Go down.
By the entry, with a 28 mm wide-angle lens.
A bit farther, with a 50 mm standard lens.			All pillars and walls are covered with statues of saints and popes.
We pass by Bernini's bronze baldachin, the grave of the apostle Peter.
As we reach the far nave, it's the dove catching the eye.		Above, three other pictures of the bronze baldachin, from an aisle and from the main nave. I was lucky with the dusty air, giving nice rays of light.
Still closer to the glory of the Lord.
It's fantastic!

	The noblest and largest of all the cupolas is Michelangelo's. It is right over the bronze baldachin. Note the dove in the baldachin roof.
	Three other cupolas that weren't bad either.
	A round one.