Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome

Tourists and pilgrims flock to Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli to see both the legendary chains of St. Peter, which are said to have bound him when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem, and Michelangelo's statue of Moses, built as part of a tomb of Pope Julius II. The church, consecrated in 439 CE, underwent several major restorations over the centuries. The most notable renovation and expansion effort added the front portico and the cloister in the 15th century. Michelangelo's "Moses," with two small horns sticking out of his head, was intended as part of a massive, 47-statue monument for Pope Julius II, but it eventually became the centerpiece of the funeral monument and tomb. Moses' horns, once the subject of much curiosity, simply represent beams of light, a kind of iconographic symbolism common in early sacred art. To visit Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli on your holiday in Rome, and find out what else Rome has to offer, use our Rome.