New Light in St. Peter's Basilica

Present the latest restorations and evacuation plan

VATICAN CITY. Last Friday, in the Vatican, the interventions of conservative restoration, technological implementation, and security carried out inside the Papal Basilica of St. Peter were presented by the Fabbrica di San Pietro. Specifically, the restoration of the funerary monuments of Popes Paul III and Urban VIII was illustrated, as well as the lighting requalification of the Necropolis, the Archaeological Rooms, and the Vatican Grottoes. Furthermore, the evacuation plan of St. Peter’s Basilica was announced, carried out in synergy with the Italian Fire Brigade, in agreement with the Fire Brigade Command of the Governorate of Vatican City State.

The restoration works were aimed at “safeguarding and preserving the extraordinary heritage of art and faith that meet here in an eternal embrace, and at the same time, confidently opening up to modernity,” as stated in the press release issued for the occasion.

The Vatican Basilica has presented the latest restoration, enhancement, technological implementation, and security interventions carried out inside, curated by the Fabbrica di San Pietro. With the conclusion of the interventions on the two grandiose sepulchral monuments located to the right and left of the Altar of the Chair, one of Pope Paul III, a work by Guglielmo della Porta, and the other of Pope Urban VIII, created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the large restoration project lasting about 14 months is effectively completed, which involved the Baldacchino and the Monument for the Chair of St. Peter, created on the occasion of this Jubilee Year. To these are added the recent lighting upgrade of the Necropolis, the Archaeological Rooms, and the Vatican Grottoes, light and memory that accompany in an experience of contemplation, faith, and beauty. The statement continues.

And then the introduction, precisely on the occasion of the extraordinary flows of the Holy Year, of the plan for the exodus of St. Peter’s Basilica, carried out in synergy with the Italian Firefighters Corps, in agreement with the Fire Brigade Command of the Governorate of Vatican City State. A study and a project to reduce risks in critical situations, destined to become a reference model also for other places of worship.

“Improving, innovating, never stopping is our way of thanking the faith and generosity of the people of God. The proverbial Factory of St. Peter never stops and seeks to reciprocate the faith and love of the pilgrims and visitors who enter the Basilica. We want to give back what is given to us and what this place of the spirit has left us over the centuries. Also and especially during the Jubilee Year.” Said Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, General Vicar of His Holiness for the Vatican City and President of the Factory of St. Peter, adding that: “We also want to offer an immersion in history and a profound experience of the sacred. We will see the archaeological spaces as the early Christians saw them, the Popes of centuries past, in the splendor of chiaroscuro that recalls the light of the torches that illuminated the birth of the Church and our path.”

Visited by 12 million people every year, probably double during the Jubilee, the Basilica cannot fail to consider the issue of security. “The Basilica is open to the world – emphasizes Cardinal Gambetti – even the new evacuation plan is a concrete expression of that pastoral care that takes care of the well-being of every believer and visitor. Better management and speeding up of the exit flows guarantee more comfort and safety,” the statement adds. All the projects have been carried out by the Fabbrica di San Pietro, under the technical-scientific direction of engineer Alberto Capitanucci, head of the Technical and Cultural Heritage Area of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, and Professor Pietro Zander, head of the Necropolis and Artistic Heritage Section of the Fabbrica di San Pietro.