St. Peter's Basilica
Vatican City
Rome Italy
2016

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal enclave that is within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initially planned by Pope Nicholas V and then Pope Julius II to replace the aging Old St. Peter's Basilica, which was built in the fourth century by Roman emperor Constantine the Great. Construction of the present basilica began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Basilica

St. Peter’s Basilica is the largest church in the world. It stands above the spot where St Peter is thought to have been buried. The basilica is the second church to have been erected here; the first was built by Emperor Constantine the Great (r. 306-337) between 324 and 329.

Constantine’s basilica stood for more than a thousand years until Pope Julius II (r. 1503-13) instructed the architect Donato Bramante (1444-1514) to design and build a new church. The first stone was laid on April 18th 1506, and 120 years later, on November 18th 1626, the new basilica was consecrated by Pope Urban VIII (r. 1623-44).

https://www.walksinrome.com/a-guide-to-st-peters-basilica.html

The facade, which is 114.69 metres (376.3 ft) wide and 45.55 metres (149.4 ft) high, was designed by Carlo Maderno (1556-1629) and built between 1608 and 1612, during the reign of Pope Paul V (r. 1605-21). It is emblazoned with a long inscription, which proclaims, in letters one-metre high: IN · HONOREM · PRINCIPIS · APOST · PAVLVS · V · BVRGHESIVS· ROMANVS · PONT · MAX · AN · MDCXII · PONT · VII (In honour of the Prince of Apostles, Paul V, Borghese, Roman, Pontifex Maximus, the year 1612, the seventh of his pontificate).

The facade is crowned with thirteen colossal statues, which were executed by an assortment of sculptors between 1612 and 1614. From left to right they are: St Thaddeus (Carlo Fancelli), St Matthew (Bernardino Cennini), St Philip (Simeon Drouin), St Thomas (Simeon Drouin), St James the Great (Egidio Moretti), St John the Baptist (Simeon Drouin), Christ the Redeemer (Cristoforo Stati), St Andrew (Carlo Fancelli), St John the Evangelist (Antonio Valsoldo), St James the Less (Cristoforo Stati), St Bartholomew (Egidio Moretti), St Simon (Bernardino Cennini), St Matthias (Giuseppe Fontana).

In the centre of the facade is the Benediction Loggia. Twice a year, at Easter and at Christmas, the Pope steps out onto the balcony to deliver his blessing Urbi e Orbi (to the City and to the World).