The largest church in Christendom, free to enter, with Michelangelo's dome on top. Go at 7am, then climb to the lantern for Rome laid out along the river.
The basilica took 120 years to build, from 1506 to 1626, with Bramante, Michelangelo and Bernini all leaving their mark. Bernini's colonnade wraps the square in front like two arms.
Entry is free; the only wait is the security line under the colonnade, shortest at the 7am opening or after 5pm. Inside, Michelangelo's Pietà is the first chapel on the right, behind glass.
At the crossing, Bernini's bronze baldachin rises over the papal altar and the tomb of St Peter. The Holy Door, opened for the 2025 Jubilee, was bricked up again in January 2026 until the next one.
The dome climb is 551 steps: €10 on foot, or €15 with a lift that skips the first 231. Online booking costs a little more. The last 320 steps lean with the curve of the dome.
Two to three hours, starting at opening.
Stand on the disc by the fountain and the four rows of columns line up into one.
Michelangelo carved it at 24; it is the only work he ever signed.
Stand beneath Bernini's bronze canopy and look up into the dome.
The crypt holds the tombs of many popes, including John Paul II's first resting place.
Climb out onto the terrace for the whole city laid out along the river.
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Metro A to Ottaviano, then 10 minutes down Via di Porta Angelica, or walk from Castel Sant'Angelo along Via della Conciliazione.
The entrance is to the right of the basilica portico; pay at the desk or book online for a small surcharge.
The basilica can close for papal Masses; Wednesday mornings are the general audience in the square.
Rome practical notes →Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences.
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