World Religions › Early modern › Roman Catholic Church and the papacy
Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's begun 1506; Vatican City state 1929· Holy place· Judaism, Christianity & Islam
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
The Vatican, in Rome, is the seat of the pope and the world's smallest independent state, centered on St. Peter's Basilica.
See it on the World Religions map →What it is
Catholic tradition holds that the apostle Peter was martyred and buried on Vatican Hill around AD 64; Emperor Constantine built a basilica over the site around 320. Pope Julius II began the present St. Peter's in 1506. Bramante, Michelangelo and Bernini shaped it over 120 years, partly funded by the indulgence sales Luther attacked. The Sistine Chapel holds Michelangelo's ceiling. The 1929 Lateran Treaty with Italy created Vatican City, about 44 hectares (109 acres), with roughly 800 residents.
Why it matters
It is the administrative and symbolic center for about 1.4 billion Catholics, and its art makes it one of the world's most visited places.
Sources and history
Excavations under St. Peter's in the 1940s found an ancient shrine over a tomb; building accounts and papal documents; and the Lateran Treaty text.
Questions and debates
Whether bones found beneath the basilica, which Pope Paul VI announced in 1968 as Peter's, truly are his is unproven.
Connections (2)
▸Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica is the seat of Roman Catholic Church and the papacyHistorical record
The connection
The pope, as bishop of Rome, leads the Catholic Church from the Vatican. Catholics believe he is the successor of Peter, whose tomb is honored beneath St. Peter's Basilica. Popes lived mainly at Rome's Lateran Palace until the 1300s and settled at the Vatican after returning from Avignon in 1377. Since 1929 Vatican City has been a sovereign state.
When and where
Vatican Hill, Rome; papal residence since the late 1300s; the 1929 Lateran Treaty was signed by Cardinal Gasparri for Pope Pius XI and by Mussolini for Italy.
Historical evidence
Papal records, the Lateran Treaty, and the Holy See's diplomatic relations with more than 180 countries.
Questions and debates
Historians debate how early Rome's bishop held authority over all churches; Orthodox and Protestant Christians reject claims of papal supremacy.
▸Second Vatican Council was held at Vatican and St. Peter's BasilicaHistorical record
The connection
Pope John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council, which met in St. Peter's Basilica in four autumn sessions. More than 2,000 bishops from every continent sat in tiered seats lining the nave, with Protestant and Orthodox observers present. The setting signaled both the papacy's central authority and a newly global church.
When and where
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, 1962–1965; Popes John XXIII and Paul VI.
Historical evidence
Official council records, photographs and films of the sessions, and journalists' daily reports.
Questions and debates
Little is uncertain about the venue; Catholics still debate whether the council's documents mark continuity with the past or a break.