Reading Response 5

St. Peter's

~ located in Rome

~ a basilica

~ built on platform over sloping ground

~ constructed over a Roman necropolis

~ 112 meters long

~ colonnades on both sides

~ columns taken from the pre-Christian Roman buildings

~ founded by Constantine 

~ site of boisterous family celebrations

~ the significance lies in the buildings construction

~ it achieved directness and majesty

~ large scale communal ritual overlapped with the message of imperial glory

~ one of first buildings in Mediterranean world that highlighted appeal of new religion

Source: Ching, A Global History of Architecture