Text transcribed from caption: C-45710 ROME’S GREAT BASILICAS -- HOLY YEAR SHRINES (First of a Series) ROME -- There are three other major basilicas in the Eternal City -- St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul’s-Outside-the-Walls -- but the first stop for most of those making the pilgrimage to Rome during the upcoming Holy Yar will be St. Peter’s Basilia in the Vatican. St. Peter’s can only be described in superlatives. It is the largest church in the Christian world, and has perhaps the most commanding dome of any building. It is able to accommodate 50,000 people and it’s architects included some of the greatest artists the world has ever produced. The present structure was begun in 1506 under Bramante to replace a basilica erected by the Emperor Constantine on the supposed site of St. Peter’s crucifixion. Bramante designed a church in the shape of a Greek cross but after his death in 1514 a succession of architects, including Rafael, Fra Giacondo and Fiuliano da San Gallo, made drastic changes. In 1546, Michelangelo was called in as chief architect and restored Bramante’s Greek-cross plan. He also designed an enormous dome over the crossing that would dominate the building. His conception may be best judged from the apse of the basilica (the view here), since the front of the building was later considerable changed. After Michelangelo’s death in 1564, the dome was carried out in slightly modified form by Giacomo della Porta. Under Pope Sixtus V, the nave of the building was lengthened to accommodate a vast congregation, in effect destroying the planned domination of the dome from the front of the church. The basilica itself was completed in 1614 although work continued in and around it for decades. The most impressive later additions are Bernini’s magnificent colonnades which extend forward from the sides of the basilica and end in semi-circles enclosing St. Peter’s Square. The great obelisk of Heliopolis, brought to Rome by Emperor Caligula, adorns the center of the Square. The dimensions of St. Peter’s are impressive, as they should be for the largest church in Christendom. The dome rises to a height of 450 feet from the ground and the basilica is 619 feet long. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (R-7A-74-DS)