Baldacchino di San Pietro, Di Bernini
Baldacchino di San Pietro, Di Bernini
4.5
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Neighbourhood: Vatican / Borgo
Frocked priests, colorful Swiss Guards, insistent souvenir shop owners, flag-waving tour guides, and pilgrims from around the world. This is the Vatican and Borgo, Rome's most recognized neighbourhood which acts as Vatican City's front yard. Aside from the souvenir boutiques and a few food spots, the only business conducted here is papal. In the daytime, the tiny medieval sector bustles with holy activity, as visitors vie for elbow room, or stand in line for a visit. Once the sun sets, the neighbourhood is transformed into a quiet and picturesque hamlet.
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- Cipro • 10 min walk
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4.5
1,088 reviews
Excellent
852
Very good
186
Average
38
Poor
8
Terrible
4
Mairwen1
United Kingdom11,165 contributions
Jun 2022
This is one of those things that you cannot possibly appreciate without seeing. It’s just too hard to get your head around the scale and sheer size without standing in front of it.
From a distance, it looks not unlike a canopy for a four poster bed. Up close, it simply dwarves everything and people look tiny.
The four columns are 20 metres tall and the angels at the corners are twice life-size.
Commissioned by Pope Urban VIII, the baldachin was created by the papacy’s favourite sculptor, Bernini in 1633.
It is of course decorative but it was also designed with the purpose of marking the location of St. Peter’s tomb, beneath the High Altar.
A curious and strangely explicit series of images can be seen on the plinths. Each plinth has two Barberini family crests, which you would expect to see (the ones with the bees). What’s unexpected is that above each one is a small woman’s face. Taken together, they seem to show her going through childbirth. The final face is a baby being born. The meaning of the faces can only be guessed at. According to most they represent the labor and suffering of the papacy and the Church in bringing about salvation or new life. However an alternate (and my preferred) story is that this young woman is Pope Urban’s niece. He promised to dedicate a special altar in St Peter’s if she survived a complicated pregnancy. A more salacious story is that Bernini was taking a secret revenge on the Pope who would not acknowledge Bernini’s nephew’s illegitimate child.
From a distance, it looks not unlike a canopy for a four poster bed. Up close, it simply dwarves everything and people look tiny.
The four columns are 20 metres tall and the angels at the corners are twice life-size.
Commissioned by Pope Urban VIII, the baldachin was created by the papacy’s favourite sculptor, Bernini in 1633.
It is of course decorative but it was also designed with the purpose of marking the location of St. Peter’s tomb, beneath the High Altar.
A curious and strangely explicit series of images can be seen on the plinths. Each plinth has two Barberini family crests, which you would expect to see (the ones with the bees). What’s unexpected is that above each one is a small woman’s face. Taken together, they seem to show her going through childbirth. The final face is a baby being born. The meaning of the faces can only be guessed at. According to most they represent the labor and suffering of the papacy and the Church in bringing about salvation or new life. However an alternate (and my preferred) story is that this young woman is Pope Urban’s niece. He promised to dedicate a special altar in St Peter’s if she survived a complicated pregnancy. A more salacious story is that Bernini was taking a secret revenge on the Pope who would not acknowledge Bernini’s nephew’s illegitimate child.
Written 14 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Angelo S
Hilliard, OH5,124 contributions
Oct 2022
The Baldacchino is yet another masterful work in the Vatican by Bernini. This bronze covering of the High Altar marking the Tomb of St. Peter, is extremely large, and will draw your eye as you enter the basilica, even though it is about 200 feet away. The detail is amazing, with an allegory of the birth of Christ in the heraldic coats of the Barberini family around the base.
Written 30 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Vadim
Murmansk, Russia34,571 contributions
Jun 2023 • Solo
The canopy in the Cathedral of St. Petra is another Bernini creation. For Bernini, it was the first commission of the newly elected Pope Urban VIII of the Barberini family in 1623. At the same time, other sculptors and artists, including Bernini's rival Francesco Borromini, took part in the design of the canopy created in 1624-1633. It was, however, at the beginning of their confrontation, so no drama happened here. The 28-meter canopy not only fulfills its role of attracting the attention of believers, but shows by its size the exceptional importance of the grave of St. Nicholas. Peter as the founder of the church. However, the construction of the canopy provoked protests from the Romans, because bronze from the farms of the Pantheon narthex went to create supports, which gave rise to a sarcastic expression: "what the barbarians did not do, the Barberini did." For a long time this was taken for granted, but now it has been established that this version was planted by Pope Urban VIII Barberini himself to obscure the fact that bronze from the Pantheon went to the guns of the castle of Sant'Angelo. After all, the canopy of St. Peter seemed ideologically more acceptable to the Romans according to the Pope.
Written 13 May 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lexi3
131 contributions
Nov 2019
Bernini canopy carved from bronze straddling the altar to St Peter. Another piece of other worldly art in the most important church in Christendom. We visit the Basilica every time we visit Rome, and learn something new every visit.
Written 13 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Big_Jeff_Leo
St Helens, UK22,639 contributions
Mar 2023
St. Peter's Baldachin is a great example of a large Baroque sculpted bronze canopy, technically called a ciborium or baldachin, over the high altar of St. Peter's. The four columns are actually 20 metres or 66 feet high, but they misleadingly small within the enormous context of the Cathedral. Commissioned by Pope Urban VIII, the work began in 1623 and ended in 1634. It really is something to see, and you will be naturally drawn to it which is one of its purposes.
Written 10 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Arthur M
Hamilton, Canada1,621 contributions
Dec 2022
When TV shows that the Pope holds masses in St. Peter's Basilica like Easter or Christmas, or more recently, the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, one will always see this iconic structure. And wow, the scale of this is massive in person. It is dominant inside the basilica. The architecture and art surrounding it makes people mesmerized, and I was no exception.
Written 15 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
George S
Miami Beach, FL1,620 contributions
May 2023 • Family
This is a bronze canopy sculpted by Bernini above the main altar inside the Basilica of St Peter. It is nearly 100 feet high and is located underneath the basilica’s dome. A magnificent work of art.
Written 29 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Brad
Hong Kong, China174,739 contributions
Feb 2024 • Family
One of the highlights of St. Peter's Basilica is Bernini's Baldacchino (1623-34), an elegant altar canopy place above the tomb of St. Peter in the centre of the basilica. This is a Baroque masterpiece that has long been one of my favourite things to see with the basilica. During our recent visit, it was being renovated in preparations for next year's Jubilee so much scaffolding in place obscuring views on all sides. These things are necessary and happen at times. I'll be happy to see her again the next time in Vatican City.
Written 21 May 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Deanosaur89
Edmonton, Canada8,617 contributions
Apr 2023 • Couples
Peter's Baldachin Is hard to miss and is a focal point within St. Peter's Basilica. Plan to spend a few minutes looking at this and at least an hour in the Basilica itself. Entrance to this area is free but it is closed Wednesday mornings for a Papal mass. There are many other beautiful sculptures and items to look at in the Basilica as well. This area never seemed too crowded when we visited so we had time to admire it.
Written 30 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Asiyah Noemi K
Pula, Croatia5,332 contributions
Mar 2019 • Family
Basilica of St. Peter was built on the orders of the first Christian emperor, Constantine, in a symbolic place - the place where the apostle Peter was buried, the first pope. Many famous builders and well-known artists are engaged. And after 150 years of effort, here has produced numerous magnificent works of art, such as Michelangelo's Pietà, and numerous Bernini's works, such as Baldachin. The Baldachin is at the center of the crossing, and directly under the dome of the basilica. The bronze Baldachin above the altar, 29 meters high, was made by the largest baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini ( Along with Francesco Borromini, a genius Swiss Baroque architect ), it was intended to mark, in a monumental way, the place of Saint Peter's tomb underneath. Baldachin carry spiral columns cast out of bronze decorations from the Pantheon, and on top there is a huge sculptural composition of the Assumption of St. Peter. Entering the magnificent Basilica we become aware of the magnificence of the magnificent masterpiece of construction. At first glance the glamorous Baldachin is attracted to attention. And it leaves no one indifferent to anyone. It is a wonderful atmosphere, and the spiritual spirit is mixed with curiosity and impression. Wonderfully.
Written 8 April 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
vivianaayalav
Houston, Texas
How were you able to get closer to the baldacchino? I went today and they had barricades blocking people from getting closer. Only a select few were able to pass by it at a closer proximity.
Written 24 June 2018
My only guess is that they were either having a special event or they were working on it. There were no such barriers when we were there in May.
Written 25 June 2018
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