St. Peter's Basilica

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, or simply Saint Peter's Basilica, is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal enclave that is within the city of Rome. St. Peter's is famous as a place of pilgrimage and for its liturgical functions. The pope presides at a number of liturgies throughout the year both within the basilica or the adjoining St. Peter's Square; these liturgies draw audiences numbering from 15,000 to over 80,000 people. St. Peter's is one of the four churches in the world that hold the rank of major basilica, all four of which are in Rome.^[1]

Coverage[]

St. Peter's Basilica is featured in Wrath of God.

It was introduced in 1 week after people when it towers above all else in Rome. The show gave information that it was reputedly built directly above the tomb of Saint Peter, the first pope of the Roman Catholic Church, designed by Michelangelo, and was completed in 1626. The 452ft tall engineering marvel is still one of the tallest domed structures in the world but it has been plagued by structural problems from the beginning. Tanya Komas stated that after construction, it formed cracks around the base cause by the outward expansion of the dome structure while Gordon Masterton stated that the solution was to insert chains and the tension of the chains close up the cracks as best as it could and are still within the dome. The chains were designed to hug the inner dome like the iron bands that hold a barrel together, and rather than actual links, the system uses interlocking iron bars. Steven S. Ross explains that the chains are wrought iron which would rust on the surface but won't rust through and the rust on the surface protects the rest of the iron allowing the chains to maintain the strength for hundreds of years if left alone.

StPeterIron — The iron support chain corrodes.

Its fate is revealed in 500 years after people when the iron support chains are being pushed to the limit. Tanya Komas stated that overtime, the dome structure would expand at the base and will be the vulnerable area of the dome. As the base pushes outward, a second force is acting from above, a crass and decorative lantern, which were placed on top after the dome's completion in 1590, weighing more than 3 tons. At the base, rainwater has attacked St. Peter's flat roof. Michael J. Crosbie thinks that the first thing that would go are the roofing material that would start weathering through over the next 200 or 300 years and will eventually disappear while Gordon Masterton stated that corrosion will take over ultimately, the chains will break, and the extra support to the dome will be gone. As the chains break, the supports of the dome begins to crack till the entire dome crumbles and collapse into the Basilica, destroying the altar beneath in the process.

Trivia[]

The St. Peter's Basilica, along with the Colosseum, were originally seen in the Italian Commercial.
- Both structure's are also the only structures in the commercial to be officially featured in the series.
The collapse of the dome of doesn't show some of the roof nearby to collapse, as it was clipping right through, especially its base.