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You are in: Home » Culture and leisure » Historic places of worship » Catholic Churches » Chiesa San Pietro in Vincoli
Typology: Small Basilica

Address

Address: Piazza di San Pietro in Vincoli, 4/A
Zone: Rione Monti (Colosseo-S.Giovanni-S.Maria Maggiore) (Roma centro)

Contacts

Opening times

For the timetable of the masses and visiting conditions, please consult the contacts.

Description

The church of San Pietro in Vincoli is also known as the Basilica Eudossiana, because it was rebuilt (in place of another of equal size, itself built on the ruins of Roman buildings), by Eudoxia, wife of Emperor Valentinian III, to house the chains of St Peter held in Jerusalem and given to her by her mother Eudocia.

Consecrated in 439 by Pope Sixtus III, it was restored during the pontificate of Hadrian I in about 780, and again after 1000. Considerable work was undertaken by Sixtus IV's nephew, Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere, from 1471 to 1503, the year he was elected pope with the name Julius II.

Recent excavations, carried out during the resurfacing, uncovered the remains of previous constructions, some of which are now accessible. The façade is preceded and concealed by an elegant portico that rises from a wide grating. The interior is of a certain grandeur due to the parade of splendid columns that divide it into three naves, giving it a theatrical appearance, due to the very low vaulted ceiling, depicting "The Miracle of the Chains" by Parodi.

According to tradition, the two chains (bonds) with which St Peter was bound are still preserved under the altar.

Since 1545, one of the masterpieces of 16th century art, Michelangelo's Moses, can be admired in the right transept.
The statue was sculpted in 1513, to adorn the funeral monument that Julius II had commissioned from Buonarroti. The artist had planned a grandiose architectural and sculptural complex, but had had to suspend its execution, as the pope's interest was entirely directed towards the reconstruction of St. Peter's Basilica. The idea of the mausoleum seemed shelved. For Michelangelo it was a disappointment, a pain that led him to call the affair 'the tragedy of burial'.
The sculpture, having abandoned any idea of architectural grandeur, was finished after the death of Julius II.
The figure of the prophet, descended from Sinai with the Tablets of the Law, is majestic and terrible: he finds the Israelites intent on worshipping a golden calf.  The veins and muscles stand out as if the whole statue palpitates under the impulse of wrath; the face expresses solemnity and fury.
Last checked: 2022-07-14 11:45