Celebrating the consecration of a church, we honor the eponymous saint of the place, under whose protection the community of believers places itself. Today, on the feast of the consecration of the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome, we therefore honor the two main apostles and ask them to help us with their intercession.
The first church on the site of St. Peter's Basilica was built between 326 and 350 by Emperor Constantine I (the Great) and his son II. Constantius raised it above the tomb of St. Peter as a sign of the victory of Christianity. Today's cathedral was built between 1506 and 1626.
Already in 1450, Pope Miklós V planned the construction of a new basilica, because the adversities of more than a thousand years were clearly visible on the Constantine building. II. Pope Gyula, who wanted to express the greatness, beauty and sanctity of the Church in a dignified way in the new church, also wanted to have his own tomb erected here. He commissioned Donato Bramante to prepare the blueprint. Bramante in B.C. He designed a central, isosceles cross-shaped building with a huge dome on the model of the round Pantheon built in 27 and Maxentius' hall basilica on the Roman Forum. The foundation stone was laid on April 18, 1506.
Pope Leo X appointed Raffaello Santi as Bramante's successor, who was assisted by the architects Giuliano da San Gallo and Fra Giocondo da Verona.
The 72-year-old Michelangelo Buonarroti took over the task on the condition that he would not receive any money for it, because he was doing the work solely out of love for God and respect for St. Peter the Apostle. With a papal letter dated January 1, 1547, Michelangelo was given free rein in the design and returned to Bramante's vision, which he later simplified due to costs, but also made more dignified. At the time of his death, the three naves of the new basilica were already standing, together with the foundation and frame of the dome. ARC. By order of Pope Pius, his successors, Vignola and Pirro Ligorio, had to strictly follow Michelangelo's designs. The basilica, which has been considered one of the largest churches in the world ever since, was consecrated on November 18, 1626.
Saint Paul's Basilica
The full name of St. Paul's Basilica Outside the Walls is the main Roman church built over the tomb of the apostle. Pál's grave already in II. century, it was revered next to the road leading to Ostia. Above the cell of the earliest marble tomb, Emperor Constantine the Great erected a smaller basilica, which was consecrated by Pope Sylvester I on November 18, 324. Later, due to the crowd of pilgrims, this temple was expanded by imperial decree. The huge five-nave, eighty-columned vestibule basilica of the architect Ciriades burned down in 1823; today's main church was built according to the plans of Luigi Poletti from the donations of the Christian world, IX. It was consecrated by Pope Piusz in 1854.
Source: Magyar Kurír
Photo: Wikipedia; British Museum
