• Exists entirely within Italy– You can walk

around it in 40 minutes

– It has a population of only 1,000 people

– But over a billion people look to its leader• Who is he?

• St. Peter’s Basilica—most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and remains one of the largest churches in the world

• Basilica is the burial site of its namesake Saint Peter, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus– St. Peter was the Bishop of Rome and

technically the first Pope.

• There are over 100 tombs within St. Peter's Basilica (91 popes)

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Obelisk th

at St. P

eter was c

rucified on

The Cathedral is said to be constructed over the burial site of St. Peter

Saint Peter's Baldachin

• Sistine Chapel—(NOT 16 Chapel!!!)

• Michelangelo painted the 12,000 sq ft chapel ceiling

• Today it is the site of the Papal conclave, the process by which a new Pope is selected.

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The Last Judgment(above the altar)

Michaleangelo

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• College of Cardinals elects a new Pope at the Sistine Chapel

• After votes have been cast, the Cardinals burn the ballots.– If a candidate receives less

than a two-thirds majority, the cardinals send up black smoke

– If the smoke from the chimney is white, a new pope has been elected

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