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Prior to the construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica, the North East section of Rome now known as Vatican City was occupied by building referred to as Old Saint Peter’s Basilica. Construction began on Old Saint Peter’s Basilica during the early half of the fourth century and the building remained in use until its demolition in the early 16th century.

The building itself consisted of five aisles, with a wide, central nave. There were two smaller aisles flanking the center. Each aisle consisted of 21 marble columns, which were reused from pagan buildings from the area. The building was over 350 feet long and 100 feet tall. The building was in the shape of a cross and in the sixth century a large atrium, which was known as the Garden of Paradise, was added to the building.

The atrium consisted of five doors leading to the main church. The top of atrium held a grad mosaic known as the Navicella mosaic. This mosaic was made in the early fourteenth century by Giotto di Bondone and was commissioned by Cardinal Jacopo Stefaneschi. The mosaic showed a Saint Peter walking on the water.

The nave of the basilica contained an arch, which was dominated by a mosaic depicting Constantine and Saint Peter presenting a model of the church to Christ. Each wall of the basilica had eleven windows and frescoes depicting the accounts of both the Old Testament and New Testament. The church had a grand alter which used several Solomonic columns. Traditionally, it was believed that the columns were brought by Constantine from the Temple of Solomon, however it is much more likely that they came from an Eastern church. In contrast to the pagan temples in the area, the exterior of the church was not lavishly decorated.

The history of the church is considerably more complicated then the design and has historically attracted the attention of a number of noteworthy scholars including G.W. Bowersock and Hugo Brandenburg. Traditionally Old Saint Peter’s Basilica was thought to have been constructed on the orders of Constantine although in recent times doubt has been cast upon that assumption. Bowersock had laid evidence that suggests Old St. Peter’s Basilica was actually created by Contstantine’s son, Constan.

Both scholars look to find a date upon which St. Peter’s was completed. Bradenburg claims that the date of completion was in the year 333 A.D. however he acknowledges that the earliest documentation of the church’s completion was the testimony of the Liber Pontificalis which states that Pope Liverius took possession of St. Peter’s when he took the position in the year 352 A.D. Bowersock disagrees with the year 333 A.D. as the year of completion for the Basilica. He bases this idea off a study of the documentation of the era and archaeological evidence. Bowersock acknowledges that documentation showing that Constantine was responsible for the creation of the basilica, however Bowersock is very reluctant about relying on the documentation from centuries later. This apprehension is due to the belief that the history had been altered by the Catholic Church, in order to strengthen the history of Christianity.

It is clear however that the basilica was built in the location that is believed to have been the final resting place of Saint Peter although there is little proof to support this myth. Bowersock lays claims to the near impossibility of both Peter and Paul’s remains to have even been recovered and this claims hold great merit.

Bowersock’s most impressive argument that sheds doubt upon Constantine’s involvement in Old St. Peter’s Basilica, is the shear like of supporting documents that point towards Constantine. Constantine’s life was heavily documented during his era, yet the first documentation of Constantine’s involvement with the creation of the basilica is not for centuries later, well after Christianity had astonishing influence in the area.

This confusion over the history of St. Peter’s Basilica is even heightened by the fact that since the completion of the basilica to the time period when it was deconstructed, the importance of the basilica steadily increased. Subsequently, the building had a large number of altercations to both the interior, exterior, and even architectural layout.

Old Saint Peter’s Basilica remained an important building throughout Rome for a number of years. St Peter’s Basilica architecture underwent several altercations and restorations, but in the early sixteenth century, Pope Julius II decided that it was time for a new structure to be created and this lead to the unfortunate deconstruction of Old Saint Peter’s Basilica. This deconstruction ruined much of the archeological evidence from the building and the exact history is still unknown. While Brandenburg claims the creation of Old St. Peter’s can be attributed to Constantine, Bowersock successfully pokes a number of holes in the traditional story of the building. Unfortunately concrete evidence remains to be seen and the precise history of Old St. Peter’s Basilica is still unkown.

Shaun