Additional Information

• A network of chapels, niches and vaulted ceilings adorned with Baroque trimmings encircle the central domed area.
• You walk past Michelangelo’s famous Pieta, a marble sculpture of Mary holding the crucified body of Jesus. Then you approach the basilica’s centerpiece: the Chair of St. Peter.
• In front of the chair is a 70-foot-tall bronze canopy that covers the papal altar. It stands directly below the dome’s oculus and above St. Peter’s tomb in the lower levels. The dome shines light toward St. Peter, symbolically linking the saint with the altar and the heavens.
• The large, wooden chair, crafted as early as the sixth century, is encased in an intricate bronze gilt sculpted by Bernini. In the gilt, angels hover near a round, stained-glass window with a dove at the center. When sunlight brightens the stained glass, it creates an ethereal effect.
• Michelangelo simplified Bramante’s plans and drew up designs for what was to become his greatest architectural achievement, the dome. He never lived to see it built, though, and it was left to Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana to finish it in 1590.
• The central balcony is known as the Loggia della Benedizione, and it’s from here that the pope delivers his Urbi et Orbi blessing at Christmas and Easter.
• A red floor disk marks the spot where Charlemagne and later Holy Roman Emperors were crowned by the pope.
• At the base of the Pier of St Longinus is Arnolfo di Cambio's much-loved 13th-century bronze statue of St Peter, whose right foot has been worn down by centuries of caresses.
• Accessed from the left nave, the Museo Storico Artistico sparkles with sacred relics, including a tabernacle by Donatello and the 6th-century Crux Vaticana, a jewel-studded cross that was a gift of the emperor Justinian II.
• On Bramante’s death (1514) Leo X commissioned as his successors Raphael, Fra Giovanni Giocondo, and Giuliano da Sangallo, who modified the original Greek cross plan to a Latin cross with three aisles separated by pillars. The architects after Raphael’s death in 1520 were Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, Baldassarre Peruzzi, and Andrea Sansovino.
• There are many gift shops in and around St. Peter's, and a small restaurant on the roof.
• Without going through the security queue, you can access the gift shop on the left (south) side of the Charlemagne Wing.
• There is also a book shop here, near the basilica exit.
• The Information Office is on the left (south) side wing of St. Peter's, often called the Charlemagne Wing
• There are three main restroom areas
• It is possible to get married in the Chapel of the Choir at St. Peter's Basilica.
• The Scavi 90 min. tour into the Excavations of the Necropolis (City of the Dead) underneath St. Peter's, is one of the most interesting in all of Rome, but you must book well in advance.
• On Sundays at noon, the pope usually (if he's in town) appears at the second window from the right of the Apostolic Palace, to pray the Angelus and bless the crowd in the Square.
• Vox Mundi Website 
• Tickets for the museum can be purchased online using major credit cards. Tickets can also be purchased from the Ticket Office, open Monday to Saturday, from 9am to 4pm.
• Several exhibitions are held each month that offer a glimpse into art and history.
• The four-poster, solid-bronze canopy over the main altar, or the baldacchino of St. Peter’s, appears almost dwarfed by the dome towering right above it. So you might think it’s not that tall. But it is. It’s almost 10 stories tall—it’s just that the dome, above it, is even bigger: 452 feet.
• It has a 211.5 meter long nave (694 ft, including the narthex). The basilica's dome is one of the world's largest measuring 42 meters in diameter and reaching 132.5 meters high (more than 434ft).
• The 45.5 meters (149 ft) high facade is crowned with 5.7 meter tall statues of Christ, John the Baptist and the apostles except for St. Peter. On either side are huge clocks supported by angels and decorated with ornaments and the papal crest. They were added in the early nineteenth century and are the work of Giuseppe Valadier. Below the clock on the left you can see the church bells.
• Five entrances lead to the narthex (the lobby area) of the church, where you find an equestrian statue of Charles the Great on the left and another equestrian statue of Emperor Constantine, created by Bernini.
• The Baroque masterpiece is crafted from bronze that was taken from the ceiling and pediment of the Pantheon. The design of the spiraling columns was inspired by marble columns that originally adorned the crypt of the old basilica.
• The confessio is located right below the majestic dome.
• The floor of the basilica has a colorful marble pattern.
• There is a viewing platform at the base of the lantern from where you can enjoy an unparalleled panorama over Rome.
• Two copies exist of the statue of St.Peter: one in Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral; the other in Co-Cathedral of the Most Holy name of Christ in Jerusalem.