"A grand monument that is a credit to all mankind". This is how card. Francesco Marchisano defined the Patriarchal Basilica of Saint Peter’s as he presented in the Vatican, this morning, the celebrations to be promoted this year to remind the church and the world that on April 18th 1506, i.e. just 500 years ago, Pope Julius II laid the first stone of the Basilica of Saint Peter’s, built on to the ancient basilica that Emperor Constantine had had built there. "No other monument in the world said the cardinal had the contribution of so many famous architects as the new Basilica of Saint Peter’s": from Bramante to Michelangelo, and again, Raphael, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Today continued Marchisano, who is archpriest of the Patriarchal Basilica of Saint Peter’s "the Basilica is one of the most visited monuments in the world: every day, we have 5 to 20 thousand visitors, with occasional peaks of 30 thousand". This flow makes the Basilica of Saint Peter’s "a veritable work of evangelisation". (to be continued)
