basilica

St. Peter’s Basilica is celebrating a milestone this year. The world’s most famous Church is turning 400 years old, and Catholic pilgrims from every country will journey to Rome to celebrate. One hundred and twenty years after Pope Julius II laid the Foundation Stone of the new church, Pope Urban VIII formally consecrated it as the new home of Christendom on November 18, 1626. Towering over the eternal city of Rome, its magnificent dome now the city’s ultimate symbol, the jewel of the Vatican outlasted dozens of architects, popes, objectors, a city sacking, a split Church, and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Built over the tomb of St. Peter, Jesus’ disciple and the first Pope, its exorbitant price tag