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31-401: The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1321, but the church was likely built around the year 1240. The stone building had a rectangular nave with a narrower, nearly square chancel with a lower roof line. In 1785, a transept was built on the south side of the nave to enlarge the building and it now seats about 300 people. In 1894, the entire old portion of

62-416: A broader, more colloquial sense, the nave includes all areas available for the lay worshippers, including the side-aisles and transepts. Either way, the nave is distinct from the area reserved for the choir and clergy . The nave extends from the entry—which may have a separate vestibule (the narthex )—to the chancel and may be flanked by lower side-aisles separated from the nave by an arcade . If

93-451: A model of the church to Christ. On the walls, each having 11 windows, were frescoes of various people and scenes from both the Old and New Testament . According to combined statements by Ghiberti and Vasari , Giotto painted five frescoes of the life of Christ and various other panels, some of which Vasari said were "either destroyed or carried away from the old structure of St. Peter's during

124-416: A number of church altarpieces. Nave The nave ( / n eɪ v / ) is the central part of a church , stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts , or in a church without transepts, to the chancel . When a church contains side aisles , as in a basilica -type building, the strict definition of the term "nave" is restricted to the central aisle. In

155-451: A public building for business transactions. It had a wide central area, with aisles separated by columns, and with windows near the ceiling. Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is an early church which had this form. It was built in the 4th century on the orders of Roman emperor Constantine I , and replaced in the 16th century. The nave, the main body of the building, is the section set apart for

186-409: A result, the continual force of the wind has already displaced the wall more than six feet (1.8 m) from the vertical; I have no doubt that eventually some... slight movement will make it collapse... At first, Pope Julius II had every intention of preserving the old building, but his attention soon turned toward tearing it down and building a new structure. Many people of the time were shocked by

217-524: A stone altar from the 14th century and some wooden sculptures dating from the late 15th century to the early 16th century. The altarpiece is from 1670. The pulpit is from the 17th century with paintings from 1753 by German born artist Gottfried Ezekiel (ca. 1719–1798) who was engaged by parish priest Nicolaus Christian Friis . Ezekiel first received a commission as a painter in Bergen during 1744. Dating from 1751 he arrived in northern Norway, where he painted

248-418: A wide central nave and two smaller aisles to each side, which were each divided by 21 marble columns, taken from earlier pagan buildings . It was over 350 feet (110 m) long, built in the shape of a Latin cross , and had a gabled roof which was timbered on the interior and which stood at over 100 feet (30 m) at the center. In the 6th century, an atrium—known as the "Garden of Paradise"—was added at

279-464: Is a rare example in Giotto's work of a documented commission, and includes Giotto's signature, although the date, like most dates for Giotto, is disputed, and many scholars feel the artist's workshop was responsible for its execution. It had long been thought to have been made for the main altar of the church; more recent research suggests that it was placed on the "canon's altar", located in the nave, just to

310-495: Is responsible for the destruction of approximately half of all papal tombs. As a result, Donato Bramante , the chief architect of modern St. Peter's Basilica, has been remembered as Maestro Ruinante . The Stefaneschi Altarpiece is a triptych by the Italian medieval painter Giotto , commissioned by Cardinal Giacomo Gaetani Stefaneschi to serve as an altarpiece for one of the altars of Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It

341-502: The Aurelian walls , and thus easy targets. They were "filled to overflowing with rich liturgical vessels and with jeweled reliquaries housing all of the relics recently amassed". As a result, the raiders destroyed Saint Peter's tomb and pillaged the holy shrine. In response Pope Leo IV built the Leonine wall and rebuilt the parts of St. Peter's that had been damaged. By the 15th century,

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372-547: The basilica , built over the historical site of the Circus of Nero , began during the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine I . The name "old St. Peter's Basilica" has been used since the construction of the current basilica to distinguish the two buildings. Construction began by orders of the Roman Emperor Constantine I between 318 and 322, after his conversion to Christianity and took about 40 years to complete. Over

403-498: The 16th and 17th centuries' demolition of Old St. Peter's Basilica (save one which was destroyed during the Saracen Sack of the church in 846 ). The remainder were transferred, mostly just the sarcophagi or coffins and their contents, to modern St. Peter's Basilica, which stands on the site of the original basilica, and a handful of other churches of Rome. The only papal tombs to survive the demolition and be properly reconstructed in

434-589: The Renaissance, in place of dramatic effects there were more balanced proportions. By the 1300s, the maintenance and decoration of the nave of parish churches was the responsibility of the parishioners; the clergy were responsible for keeping the chancel in repair. Old St. Peter%27s Basilica Old St. Peter's Basilica was the church buildings that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, where St. Peter's Basilica stands today in Vatican City . Construction of

465-556: The aisles are high and of a width comparable to the central nave, the structure is sometimes said to have three naves. It provides the central approach to the high altar . The term nave is from navis , the Latin word for ship , an early Christian symbol of the Church as a whole, with a possible connection to the " Ship of St. Peter " or the Ark of Noah . The term may also have been suggested by

496-632: The building of the new walls." The fragment of an 8th-century mosaic, the Epiphany , is one of the very rare remaining bits of the medieval decoration of Old St. Peter's Basilica. The precious fragment is kept in the sacristy of Santa Maria in Cosmedin . It proves the high artistic quality of the destroyed mosaics. Another one, a standing madonna , is on a side altar in the Basilica of San Marco in Florence . Since

527-406: The church was falling into ruin. Discussions on repairing parts of the structure commenced upon the pope's return from Avignon . Two people involved in this reconstruction were Leon Battista Alberti and Bernardo Rossellino , who improved the apse and partially added a multi-story benediction loggia to the atrium façade, on which construction continued intermittently until the new basilica

558-515: The crucifixion and burial of Saint Peter in 64 AD, the spot was thought to be the location of the tomb of Saint Peter, where there stood a small shrine. With its increasing prestige, the church became richly decorated with statues, furnishings and elaborate chandeliers, and side tombs and altars were continuously added. The structure was filled with tombs and bodies of saints and popes. Bones continued to be found in construction as late as February 1544. The majority of these tombs were destroyed during

589-420: The design of any Greco-Roman temple. The design may have been derived from the description of Solomon's Temple in 1 Kings 6 . Constantine took great pains to build the basilica on the site he and Pope Sylvester I believed to be Saint Peter's grave, which had been marked since at least the second century. This influenced the layout of the building, which was erected on the sloped Vatican Hill , on

620-468: The entrance and had five doors, which led to the body of the church. The altar of Old St. Peter's Basilica used several Solomonic columns . According to tradition, Constantine took these columns from the Temple of Solomon and gave them to the church; however, the columns were probably from an Eastern church . When Gian Lorenzo Bernini built his baldacchino to cover the new St. Peter's altar, he drew from

651-465: The keel shape of the vaulting of a church. In many Nordic and Baltic countries a model ship is commonly found hanging in the nave of a church, and in some languages the same word means both 'nave' and 'ship', as for instance Danish skib , Swedish skepp , Dutch schip or Spanish nave . The earliest churches were built when builders were familiar with the form of the Roman basilica ,

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682-471: The laity, while the chancel is reserved for the clergy. In medieval churches the nave was separated from the chancel by the rood screen ; these, being elaborately decorated, were notable features in European churches from the 14th to the mid-16th century. Medieval naves were divided into bays, the repetition of form giving an effect of great length; and the vertical element of the nave was emphasized. During

713-464: The medieval church was torn down and rebuilt in the same style. In 1814, this church served as an election church ( Norwegian : valgkirke ). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814 Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote the Constitution of Norway . This was one of Norway's first national elections. Each church parish

744-568: The next twelve centuries, the church gradually gained importance, eventually becoming a major place of pilgrimage in Rome . Papal coronations were held at the basilica, and in 800, Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the Carolingian Empire there. In 846, Saracens sacked and damaged the basilica. The raiders seem to have known about Rome's extraordinary treasures. Some holy—and impressive—basilicas, such as St. Peter's Basilica, were outside

775-459: The present St Peter's are the two from the 1490s by Antonio del Pollaiuolo , of Pope Innocent VIII and Pope Sixtus IV . These were well-regarded and innovative works, with bronze effigies by a major Florentine sculptor. Along with the repeated translations from the ancient Catacombs of Rome and two 14th century fires in the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran , the rebuilding of St. Peter's

806-602: The proposal, as the building represented papal continuity going back to Saint Peter . The original altar was to be preserved in the new structure that housed it. The church was demolished in 1505 and construction of the new church began the following year. The design was a typical basilica form with the plan and elevation resembling those of Roman basilicas and audience halls, such as the Basilica Ulpia in Trajan's Forum and Constantine's own Aula Palatina at Trier , rather than

837-422: The twisted design of the old columns. Eight of the original columns were moved to the piers of the new St. Peter's. The great Navicella mosaic (1305–1313) in the atrium is attributed to Giotto di Bondone . This giant mosaic, commissioned by Cardinal Jacopo Stefaneschi , occupied the whole wall above the entrance arcade facing the courtyard. It depicted St. Peter walking on the waters . This extraordinary work

868-474: The west bank of the Tiber River . Notably, since the site was outside the boundaries of the ancient city, the apse with the altar was located in the west, so that the basilica's façade could be approached from Rome itself to the east. The exterior, unlike earlier pagan temples, was not lavishly decorated. The church was capable of housing from 3,000 to 4,000 worshipers at one time. It consisted of five aisles,

899-413: Was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet at Eidsvoll Manor later that year. The church is characterized today largely by an interior from the 17th and 18th century. The chandeliers date from the 1760s. In 2003, the church received a replica of a Baroque organ from the 1700s. The church has

930-399: Was begun. Alberti pronounced the basilica a structural abomination: I have noticed in the basilica of St. Peter's in Rome a crass feature: an extremely long and high wall has been constructed over a continuous series of openings, with no curves to give it strength, and no buttresses to lend it support... The whole stretch of wall has been pierced by too many openings and built too high... As

961-448: Was mainly destroyed during the construction of the new St. Peter's in the 16th century, but fragments were preserved. Navicella means "little ship" referring to the large boat which dominated the scene, and whose sail—filled by storm winds—loomed over the horizon. Such a natural representation of a seascape was known only from ancient works of art. The nave ended with an arch, which held a mosaic of Constantine and Saint Peter, who presented

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