EPC Project 2 ORAL PRESENTATION

Tay Jit Ying

Ryan Kerry

RELIGIOUS BUILDINGSaround the world

ROME

ST PETER’S BASILICABasilica di San Pietro in Vaticano

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

• Vatican City, Rome

• Basilica Papale di San Pietro / Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano

• marvel of the Renaissance Architecture

• Largest churches in Christendom

• Bramante, Michelangelo, Maderno & Bernini

HISTORY & BACKGROUND

ST PETER’S BASILICA

OLD ST PETER’S BASILICA

• burial site of Saint Peter

• built over St Peter’s shrine

• name of cathedral set to honor his name

• built around 320 AD by Emperor Constantine

• stood the Circus of Nero

• 30 years to completion

• in a bad shape by the end of the 15th century

• underwent major reconstruction & refurbishment but soon turned into demolition and rebuilding

• main structure preserved even till now in the new structure

NEW ST PETER’S BASILICA

• the result after the plan of rebuilding a new structure

• construction underwent for more than a century

• implementation of Renaissance & Baroque architecture

• dome is completed in the first 50 years of construction

• the remains are constructed and completed in the next century

STRUCTURE & LAYOUT NEW ST PETER’S BASILICA

PLAN

• comprises of 3 main structure

• basilica, frontal terrace & the square

• symmetrical balanced alignment

• symbolizes a Latin Cross

• one of the arm slightly longer than the other three

• comprises of the apse, transept and the nave

• aisles are ended by a portico at the east end and an apse across the west end

• Papal Altar ( Baldachin ) forms the form of intersection

BASILICA

DOME, PIERS & VAULTS

interconnected and act as support to each other, basking the art of its era

DOME

• dome topped with a lantern

• surrounded by windows flanked with Corinthian columns

• highly elaborated with Roman ordered ornaments

• heavy concrete masonry laid with herringbone pattern

PIERS

• 4 solid thick piers to support the dome

• stretches 25 feet down into the foundation of each single pier

• 45 meters height of Corinthian pillars

• supports each side of vaults from the apse, nave and transepts

VAULTS

• series of adjoining arches which form a tunnel - barrel vault

• act as the support of the roof

• Supported by thick buttress walls and abutment

• spread across four arms of the Latin Cross

FACADENew St Peter’s Basilica

• highly elaborated with Corinthian pillars

• thick wall to hold the entire structure back

• 13 statues at heights of 6 meters

THE SQUARESt Peter’s Square

• axis with Baroque monumental approach

• surrounded by to semi oval colonnades which is 4 columns deep

• Egyptian obelisk marks the center of the piazza

INTERIOR New St Peter’s Basilica

• wealth of Catholic Church in the 16th

century

• 45 altars, 11 chapels

• huge mosaics

The Pietà by Michelangelo

NORTH AISLE

Papal altar by Bernini

TOMBS IN VATICAN GROTTO

• beneath basilica• 100 tombs, 91 popes

operated since 1931

oldest bell dates from 1288

ARTWORK

• central external door.• Called the "Navicella

• the northernmost door is the "Holy Door”

• now in bronze

ST PETER’S TREASURY

• contains church ornaments, statues, papal mitres and various objects, usually gifts of kings or princes.

THE FAÇADENew St Peter’s Basilica

• Corinthian columns • pilasters• thirteen statues (6m)• “Was built during the

pontificate of Pope Paul V Borghese (1605-1621).”

• one side of the obelisk• parallel with the facade

ST PETER’S OLD SQUARE

REFERENCES

• Al Pellegrino Cattolico. Via di Porta Angelica, 2009. Web. 15 Sep 2013. <http://www.pellegrinocattolico.com>.

• Bosman, Lex. The Power of Tradition. Hilversum: L. Bosman & Uitgeverij Verloren, 2004. Print.

• "Famous Wonders." Pantheon. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sep 2013. <http://famouswonders.com/pantheon-in-rome/>.

• Hauser, E.O. "The World's Most Famous Church." Saturday Evening Post. (1949): 16-66. Print.

• Howard, Maurice, and Eloise Howard. N.p.. Web. 05 Sep 2013. <http://saintpetersbasilica.org>.

• Macchi, G. "Diagnosis of the facade of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome." Historical Constructions. (2001): n. page. Web. 15 Sep. 2013. <http://www.civil.uminho.pt>.Marconi, Nicoletta. Rome, Italy. University of Rome Tor Vergata. Technicians and Master Builders for the Dome of St. Peter’s in Vatican in the Eighteenth Century: The Contribution of Nicola Zabaglia (1664-1750). Cottbus: , 2009. Web.