St. Peter’s Basilica (Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano) is one of the largest Christian churches in the whole world. It was built in Rome during April 18, 1506 to November 18, 1626. It is located in the original site of the Vatican.  The new St. Peter’s basilica was built on the same site that the old Basilica was constructed. The reason that St. Peter’s Basilica should be preserve is because it has a great meaning for the Catholics and all of the art that is preserve from various artists, such as Michelangelo, also one of the creators, and most important that it’s where St. Peter’s was buried.
<!--more--> The reason that the old basilica was destroyed was because Pope Julius II wanted to rebuild the basilica by making the church bigger and better: “which he stipulated must outshine every other church in Christendom”. (qtd in The High Renaissance) St. Peter’s Basilica was first built by Bramante in 1506.  “Bramante was succeeded by Raphael (1514), Antonio da San Gallo (1520), and Michelangelo (1547), who completed the building up to the drum of the great dome. Giacomo della Porta modified the design and completed the dome.” (Saint Peter's Church).
St. Peter’s Basilica was consuming enormous amounts of money. After Julius death in 1513 Leo X notice the “great crisis of the Protestant Reformation”, he decided to make a sale indulgence in Germany to keep building the basilica (The High Renaissance).  The Basilica contains up to five large volumes: three braces of the original Greek cross, the main nave, and the domed crossing.  The dimensions are a total of 185m, a nave width of 26m, a dome width of 41.5m and height of 120m. Most of the building is done in plaster, stucco or marble. (Francesco) The basilica could hold up to 60,000 people.
St. Peter’s Basilica was received with great pride because it was built on the same place where St. Peter was buried (64 CE). Saint Peter was one of the twelve apostolate of Jesus. St. Peter’s grave became the focal point of the building. The Basilica is known as one of the holiest catholic places. It was important in its time because many popes have been interested in giving mass in this basilica for the reason that it’s where St. Peter’s tomb lays, since Saint Peters was the first bishop in Rome.
Many people today still visit the Basilica of St. Peter’s because of many reasons. One of the main reasons is because it has a great meaning to catholic people. The basilica makes them feel spiritual due to the fact that many popes attended there.  As Benedict XVI quoted “In a place, the venerable basilica of the Apostle, that is the heart of the Catholic Church. A beating heart, thanks to the Holy Spirit which keeps it alive, but also thanks to the activity of those who daily ensure its upkeep. Slightly more than 500 years have passed, since the first stone of the second Vatican Basilica was laid. ... And yet it remains a living place, it is not a museum, it is a spiritual organism, and the stones also reflect this vitality.”  People visit the basilica to hear mass, not because it just any basilica to visit. Other people visit the basilica to see the great art work that it has from many years ago.
I personally seen the basilica has one of the most important basilicas in the whole world. I have visited the basilica and really regret not valuing the time to actually take my time to see the true meaning of the basilica. I thought it was just like any church, but I was wrong. I admire the great history that the basilica has. The basilica for me has a great meaning because its one the most catholic places in the world. I still remember how one the parent’s who also went to the trip to visit the basilica cried because for that parent it was a great honor to be there. And know that I have known the real history behind the basilica also feel really proud of being there.
St. Peter’s basilica is important to the future generations because of all the great history that it has and the meaning it has to Catholics. The basilica is a great beauty and has many great art works from famous people and the architecture makes it more important since it was built by many people. What also makes this basilica significant is all the time that it took too built. It took many years to finish the basilica, and thanks to the different people that constructed this basilica it make it unique.

Work Cites

Martellotta, Francesco. "Identifying acoustical coupling by measurements and prediction-models for St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome." Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 126.3 (2009): 1175-1186. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 28 Feb. 2011.

"Saint Peter's Church." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition (2010): 1. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 28 Feb. 2011.

<em>St. Peter's Basilica</em>. N.p.: Giovanni Paolo Pannini, n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2011.

&lt;http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/08/ajb/tmve/wiki100k/docs/St._Peter_s_Basilica.html&gt;.

<em>St Peters Baslica. Org</em>. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. &lt;http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/&gt;.

"The High Renaissance." <em>Arts and Humanities Through the Eras</em>. Ed. Edward I. Bleiberg, et al. Vol. 4: Renaissance Europe 1300-1600. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 17-25. <em>Gale Virtual Reference Library</em>. Web. 7 Mar. 2011.