Main façade of St. Peter`s Basilica.The Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano is an Italian Renaissance church in Vatican City, the papal enclave within the city of Rome.Designed by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter`s is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and one of the largest churches in the world. While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, St. Peter`s is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines. It has been described as `holding a unique position in the Christian world and as `the greatest of all churches of Christendom`.St. Peter`s is famous as a place of pilgrimage and is one of the four churches in the world that hold the rank of Major Basilica.
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