The Bite Magazine - Summer 2012 - Issue 5

bite travel ST PETER’S SQUARE You cannot visit Rome without experiencing this striking square and its imposing colonnade that leads to the greatest basilica of the Christian world, St Peter’s Basilica and represents the core of the Vatican City. A place said to be where many Christians, including St Peter, suffered frommartyrdom, St Peter’s crucifixion is believed to have taken place near an ancient Egyptian obelisk in the Circus of Nero which now stands in the centre of the square and was brought to Rome by Emperor Caligula in 37 BC. ST PETER’S BASILICA The world’s largest Basilica of Christianity stands in the heart of the Vatican City. The church originally constructed by the order of Constantine around 320 AD and rebuilt in the 16 th century by Renaissance masters including Bramante, Michelangelo and Bernini was built in the area where St Peter is said to have been martyred and buried. Visit this magnificent church and marvel at Michelangelo’s impressive dome high above Bernini’s baldacchino, admired the bronze statue of St Peter from the 13 th century and pay respect to the body of Pope John XXIII, displayed in the right transept of the basilica. CASTEL SANT’ANGELO A fortress that was once built as a mausoleum for Emperor Hadrian between AD 130 and 139, the building was later used by former popes as a fortress and castle for protection in times of danger. Castel Sant’Angelo, now