In the New Testament Peter was one of Jesus’s disciples. The gospels recount his thee denials of Jesus, his discovery of Jesus’ empty tomb after the crucifixion, and then crucifixion, by his own request upside-down. Peter’s legacy was cemented when the Roman Emperor Constantine, the first one to accept the Christian faith, commissioned a grand church on site of the crucifixion and the grave. Nearly a thousand years later that grand church would be made grander by orders of Pope Julius II.

On this day, April 18, in 1506, the renovations began for great Basilica of St. Peter’s. Contributions to its design came from the High Renaissance masters Michelangelo, Donato Bramante, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Raphael, as well as many others — the building process took 109 years.

Today the Basilica is part of the Vatican and below the altar holds the tomb of St. Peter. Many other notable names have been interred at the basilica throughout its history, among them St. Ignatius of Antioch, Holy Roman Emperor Otto II, Queen Christina of Sweden, who abdicated her throne in order to convert to Catholicism and most recently Pope John Paul II. Many Renaissance artworks are located throughout the church — most famously perhaps, perhaps, the Pieta by Michelangelo, in the north aisle.