它建在皇帝尼录的马戏团的遗址上，为了纪念被罗马暴君钉死在十字架上的使徒彼得。如今，举世闻名的珍贵藏品包括：米开朗琪罗24 岁时雕塑作品皮耶塔，贝尔尼尼雕制的青铜华盖，贝尔尼尼设计的镀金的青铜宝座——圣彼得宝座。自查理曼大帝开始，多位皇帝曾在这里加冕……

In the classical period the site was occupied by Nero's Circus, between the Tiber, the Janiculum, and the Vatican Hill, and St.Peter's,the Prince of the Apostles, was martyred and then buried here. Pope Anacletus had already had a small basilica, ad corpas, or a simple shrine built here.

In 324 the emperor Constantine replaced the presumably modest shrine with a basilica of Constantinian type, in line with the other churches built in Rome in that period. Finished in 349 by Constantius, son of Constantine, the original St. Peter's was enriched throughout the centuries by donations and updatings by the popes and munificent princes.

It was in Constantine's basilica that Charlemagne received the crown from the hands of Leo III in 800 and after him Lothair, Louis II, and Frederick III were crowned emperors.

The Basilica of St. Peter's in Vatican also contains a whole collection of famous monuments, from Michelangelo's Pieta to the venerated effigy of St. Peter shown in the act of blessing, which dates to the 13th century; Bernini's Funeral Monument for Pope Urban VIII, and the analogous Funeral Complex for Paul III by Guglielmo Della Porta, the bronze Tomb created by Antonio Pollaiolo for Pope Innocent VIII, which was part of the original St. Peter's, and the neoclassic Monument to the Stuarts by Canova.

重点词汇

Michelangelo  n. 米开朗基罗（意大利文艺复兴时期艺术家）
Bernini  n. 贝尔尼尼（意大利文艺复兴时期艺术家）

circus  n. 马戏团，杂技场	Tiber  n. 台伯河（意大利中部，流经罗马）
apostle  n. 耶稣十二使徒	martyr  v. 杀害
pope  n. 罗马教皇	basilica  n. （古罗马）长方形基督教堂
shrine  n. （小型）神殿，神祠	Constantine  （国王名）康斯坦丁
donation  n. 捐赠品，捐款	munificent  a. 慷慨的
crown  v. 加冕	venerate  v. 崇敬
analogous  a. 类似的,相似的	neoclassic  a. 新古典主义的