THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. PETER, ROME.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume III, Issue 119, 6 August 1875, Page 16

THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. PETER, ROME.

♦+ In the sacred city of Borne there are 365 churches, one for every day of the year, dedicated to various saints, and over them all the magnificent Church of St. Peter holds uncontested pre-eminence. As there is but one St. Peter — Prince of the Apostles — so there is no other cathedral in the world which can compare with the glorious structure which bears name in the chosen scene of his apostolic labours, of his principal see, and his martyrdom. The Church of St. Peter is not only the largest and most beautiful church that has ever been erected, but also is the noblest architectural work which has been executed by man. Byron, apostrophizing this unrivalled structure, says : — " But thou , of temples old or altars new/ Standest alone, with nothing like to thee-" St. Peter's is approached through a magnificent piazza or square, the buildings along which are concealed by a superb colonade, forming semi-circular porticoes, consisting of 284 columns, with an entablature which support the statues of 192 saints, each statue being eleven feet in height. On entering the church the interior presents a scene solemn, grand, and harmonious beyond conception. The extreme length within the walls is 607 feet in the central aisle, 445 feet in the transepts. The height from the pavement to the cross on the dome is 450 feet. The floor of St. Peter's covers five acres. "The cost of erecting this splendid structure is estimated at The rebuilding of St. Peter* s was begun in a.d, 1506. Pope Julius 11. laid the first foundation stone on the 18th of -April of that year. It stands on the site of the old church of St. Peters, and the original plans of it were drawn by Bramante. Raphael was the next architect, and after him Peruzzi, who was succeeded by Antonia da San Gallo. M. Angelo was the next architect, and under his direction the dome was completed. Michael Angelo gave the plan its last touches, and it was made a condition precedent to their appointment with the architects who came after him that they should not deviate in the least from his plans. Lizario was removed by Pius V. for wishing to alter them. During the brief pontificate of Gregory XIV., Delia Porta completed the cupola and fixed the cross ; and this greatest and most magnificent of Christian churches was eventually consecrated by Pope Urban VIII. in the year 1626,120 years after the first stone was laid.

The Swiss papei'3 express great surprise that Geneva and Berne" continue to "be so ill frequented by tourists. If they desire to attract strangers, we should advise them to vary the style of the religious entertainments that they offer. Pleasure-seekers would not be apt to be attracted bj the spectacle of persecution for the faith.. No wonder that sensible folks prefer enjoying their holidays elsewhere, especially after reading such a graceful passage as the following, which appears in the 'Oberland Bernois' : — "We hope," says a writer in that charming paper, "that Don Alfonso and Dona Bianca, the brother and sister-in-law of Don Carlos, will visit our mountains this summer. If they do, we shall be able to give them by way of entertainments as good a beating with stout slicks as ever they heard tell of, and in a thoroughly republican manner."

Why is a thief your only true philosopher ? Because he regards everything from an abstract point of view, is opposed to all notions of protection and is open to conviction. - • - A sharp-talking lady was reproved by her husband, who requested her to keep her tongue in her mouth. "My dear," she said, " it's against the law to carry, concealed weapons." All flesh is grass." Two farmers near Greenbush, United States, contesting the ownership of grass in a graveyard, fell to cutting each other with scythes, and one of them now is no mower. Well, I always make it a rule to tell my wife everything that happens," said Brawnwig. " Oh, my dear fellow, that's nothing I" said Smith wig. " I tell my wife lots of things that never happen at all." , A man's good fortune often turns his head ; his bad fortun&N as often averts the heads of his friends. - „ ';