Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The frieze on Bernini's baldachin contains a hidden narrative that begins at the pillar to the left (looking with
your back to the entrance). As you walk clockwise around the baldachin note the woman's face carved into the
frieze of each pillar, at about eye level. On the first three pillars her face seems to express the increasing agony of
childbirth; on the last one, it's replaced by that of a smiling baby. The woman was a niece of Pope Urban VIII
who gave birth as Bernini worked on the baldachin.
Contrary to popular opinion, St Peter's Basilica is not the world's largest church - the Basilica of Our
Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro on the Ivory Coast is bigger. Bronze floor plates in the central aisle indic-
ate the respective sizes of the 14 next-largest churches.
Vatican Grottoes
Extending beneath the basilica, the
Vatican Grottoes
(admission free; 8am-6pm Apr-Sep, 8am-5.30pm
Oct-Mar)
were created during the construction of the current basilica in the late 16th century
as a burial place for popes. You'll see the tombs and sarcophagi of many popes as well as
several huge columns from the original 4th-century basilica.
