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If
you visit Rome today, you can visit St. Peter’s Basilica, the
Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican gardens, as well as
many other churches in the city, which are home to glorious artworks,
saints’ tombs, and famous relics. And if you are in Rome on
Wednesdays, you can also possibly attend a papal audience. |
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| The heart,
home, and spiritual capital for one billion Roman Catholics around the
world, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican offers everyone from the
wandering tourist to the devout pilgrim an experience never to be
forgotten. For centuries both places have been the pinnacle point of
all European pilgrimages. First built in 337, then rebuilt in 1626,
St. Peter’s Basilica lies over the tomb of St. Peter. For the past
1,800 years, popes, queens, kings, saints, Catholics, non-Catholics,
merchants, soldiers, peasants, pilgrims, tourists, and vacationers
alike have stepped inside St. Peter’s Basilica to both pray, as well
as admire the incredible artworks, which reflect the great glory of
God. The basilica has also been the site of twenty-one ecumenical
councils, numerous canonization ceremonies, and thousands of major
papal events. In addition to St. Peter’s, Rome also boats dozens of
other majestic and masterpiece basilicas and churches, including the
Basilica of St. John Lateran (the cathedral and see of the Archdiocese
of Rome), the Basilica of St. Mary Major, and the Basilica of St. Paul
Outside the Walls.
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