Saint Peter in Chains
San Pietro in Vincoli—“Saint Peter in Chains”—is a Roman Catholic minor basilica that takes its name straight from the Biblical *Liberation of Peter*: the chains from Peter’s imprisonment in Jerusalem. The church was first rebuilt on older foundations in 432–440 to house those relics, presented to Pope Leo I by Empress Eudoxia, and the basilica was consecrated in 439 by Sixtus III. You’ll also come here for a work of art that’s frankly unusual for a church of relics: Michelangelo’s Moses, made as part of the tomb of Pope Julius II. And under the main altar, the chain is kept in a reliquary—though legend even tells of chains miraculously fusing, linking Peter’s different imprisonments. In 2010, after the death of Pio Laghi, Donald Wuerl became the Cardinal-Priest of this titular church. One surprisingly global footnote: since 1894, a link of the chain has been kept in St Peter’s Church in Rutland, Vermont.
AI-generated from open data and cross-checked, with review where noted. How we write narrations
🎧 Listen in WayWhisperOfficial website ↗
