The Old St. Peter's Basilica, a Forgotten Wonder

St. Peter's Basilica: the commission

Pope Leo the Great had the original St. Peter's Basilica constructed over two thousand years ago. Being one of the most exquisite buildings in all of Italy, this church was designed by Andrea Palladio over the course of more than 20 months.

One such location where worshippers gathered was the Old Saint Peter's Basilica. It had been around for roughly 1200 years, when Emperor Constantine made it a significant Christian site by granting them land so they could easily access services.

A monument in honor of St. Peter

It makes sense that when Christianity was adopted as Rome's state religion in the year 300 AD, they would wish to construct a church in honor of one important figure: Saint Peter. However, there were difficulties because of the law, which stated that you couldn't destroy or conduct construction near any cemetery that was currently being used. However, Constantine firmly determined to build his new basilica and used what seemed like an endless supply of funds available at the time (and really wasn't), so he overruled these rules.  

People traveled from all over to visit St. Peter's Tomb, which made the basilica a huge success and the focus of Christianity.

Because it contains one very important landmark—the tomb itself—the church has always been a significant location in society. What makes this building so unique when most people would travel there for pilgrimages or to see some other famous site? Although it appears that everything else in these locations is disintegrating, this small stone box has remained unaffected by time's wrath; hillsides turn to dust whenever rain falls on them (which isn't frequent).

However, the Basilica you can find in the Vatican City today is a recostruction which differs from the original one, built from

The Vatican City

Vatican City is one of the smallest autonomous states in all of Europe. With magnificent works of art from all over Italy and priceless materials, this new basilica would surpass any precedent.