Cathedrals and churches to visit: what to see and when
Michelangelo’s dome, Bernini’s baldachin and the tomb of St. Peter: of all the churches to visit in Rome and the Vatican, the basilica worth the journey, with free entry and the official booking service.
Places to visit
Churches to visit: the basilica on this page
St. Peter’s Basilica rises over the tomb of the apostle, which lies beneath the main altar. Julius II laid the first stone on 18 April 1506, and the work ran through twenty pontificates until 1626.
Michelangelo conceived the dome and built it up to the drum, Giacomo della Porta raised it between 1588 and 1590, and Carlo Maderno added the nave and the façade between 1608 and 1612. Inside, Bernini’s bronze baldachin stands 28.74 meters tall over the papal altar, and his Chair of Saint Peter fills the apse under a window of yellow alabaster. The basilica is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Entrance is free. You pay online only to guarantee a time slot, and that booking includes the Digital Audio Guide and a dedicated entrance route. Every visit starts at the security checks of the Italian State Police, in the right hemicycle of St. Peter’s Square.
What to decide before you come
- The dome. Two timed tickets: by lift to the terrace and then 320 steps, or 551 steps in all by the stairs. The basilica slot is assigned one hour before or after.
- Pétros ení. A digital exhibition on the apostle in the Octagonal Halls, inside one of the piers that carry the dome, in groups of 14 at most.
- Under the nave. The Vatican Grottoes, with the tombs of many popes, are free. The Necropolis below them admits about 250 visitors a day, from age 10, on request to the Fabbrica di San Pietro.
- The busiest days. Wednesday, when the Papal Audience usually takes place, and Sunday, when the Pope recites the Angelus.