Is St Peter’s Basilica free to visit?

St. Peter’s Basilica is not only full of history, but it is also the world’s largest church.

The St. Peter’s Basilica we see today is technically the new version, as the Old St. Peter’s Basilica stood for around 1200 years! The basilica we see today has been around since 1626.

To answer your question, yes St. Peter’s Basilica is free to visit, but there is a lengthy queue to stand in. To avoid the queues a bit, you can go as soon as the basilica opens, or book a tour that skips the queue.

A tour of St. Peter’s Basilica is worth your time as you will have a tour guide with you telling you about the history of the basilica. Plus you get those extra skip the queue tickets, so you avoid the queue entirely!

Here is a list of highlights you can see inside the historic basilica on your next visit.

St. Peter tomb

St. Peter was the head of the twelve Apostles of Jesus and the leader of the early Christian Church. After Jesus died, St. Peter led the founding of the Christian Church and then later became the first official pope.

There have been 91 popes buried so far in St. Peter’s Basilica.

La Pieta

La Pieta is a gorgeous white marble sculpture of Mary holding Jesus after he was taken down from the crucifix.

In 1497 Jean de Billheres commissioned Michelangelo to make this sculpture. Between 1498 and 1499, Michelangelo created this masterpiece, which was placed inside St. Peter’s Basilica.

St. Peter’s dome

Again, Michelangelo was the one who designed the iconic dome of St. Peter’s. The dome is the largest in the world, being at almost 140 metres!

You can even climb the dome at an additional cost! When you reach the top, you’ll get amazing views of the surrounding areas stretching out to Rome. If you have got the extra half an hour and are keen to go up some stairs, it’s worth doing the climb!

St. Peter’s Basilica is truly a beautiful building to see from the outside and even the inside. The interior is outstanding and worth seeing at least once in your life. After you’ve seen St. Peter’s Basilica, you can head over to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel.