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50 free St. Peter's Basilica trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
St. Peter's Basilica took 120 years, a dozen popes and the greatest architects of the Renaissance to build, and it is still the largest church interior on Earth. This quiz walks through the whole story: Peter's crucifixion in Nero's circus, Constantine's fourth-century basilica, Nicholas V hauling stone from the Colosseum, Julius II ordering the old church demolished to make room for his own tomb, and the indulgence-selling that helped pay for it and helped start the Reformation. Then come the builders. Bramante's Greek cross and Pantheon-inspired dome, Raphael's short tenure, Michelangelo taking over in his seventies, the 16-ribbed dome finished under Sixtus V, Maderno's controversial facade and nave, and Bernini's fifty years of bronze, marble and colonnades. There are questions on the Pietà and its 1972 attack, the Holy Door, the Chair of St. Peter, the bells, the two clocks, the tombs of 91 popes, Queen Christina and the Stuarts, and even the 2025 Minecraft recreation. Easy questions suit anyone who has seen the dome on a postcard; the expert tier asks how many bronze lamps ring the Confessio. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the basilica, the piazza and the Pietà, and the supporting sentence is attached to each question.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01St. Peter's Basilica stands inside which independent microstate?
Vatican City
Unlike Rome's other three major basilicas, it lies entirely outside Italian territory.
Q 02The original fourth-century basilica on the site was built by which Roman emperor?
Constantine the Great
It was over 103 metres long and, like all early Roman churches, had its entrance at the east end.
Q 03Construction of the present basilica began in 1506. In which year was it completed?
1626
That is 120 years of work spanning the reigns of more than twenty popes.
Q 04By what measure is St. Peter's the largest church in the world?
Interior area
Its interior covers about 15,160 square metres; by exterior footprint it ranks second.
Q 05St. Peter's is not Rome's cathedral. Which church is, as the Pope's seat and mother church?
The Archbasilica of St. John Lateran
St. Peter's is only a cathedral in the popular imagination; it is not the seat of any bishop.
Q 06According to Catholic tradition, St. Peter's tomb lies directly beneath what?
The high altar
The altar is also called the Altar of the Confession, and popes have been buried near it since the early Church.
Q 07How many churches in the world hold the rank of major papal basilica?
4
All of them are in Rome, and St. Peter's is also one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches.
Q 08The colossal statue of St. Veronica in one of the dome piers shows her holding what?
Her veil
The four pier statues match the four great relics: her veil, Longinus's spear, Helena's True Cross and a relic of St. Andrew.
Q 09The Holy Door of St. Peter's is opened only during what?
Jubilee years
By tradition it is walled up with bricks in between; the present bronze door was designed by Vico Consorti in 1950.
Q 10The two 5.55-metre statues on the steps in front of the facade depict which pair of saints?
Peter and Paul
They are the two first-century apostles to Rome; both are believed to have been martyred in the city.
Q 11In which year was St. Peter's inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
1984
It was listed under criteria (i), (ii), (iv) and (vi) as a constituent structure of the city-state.
Q 12How high does the dome rise, from the basilica floor to the top of the external cross?
136.6 metres
That makes it the tallest dome in the world and, as of 2016, the second tallest building in Rome.
Q 13Tradition holds that St. Peter was martyred in Rome in 64 AD during the reign of which emperor?
Nero
His death came amid the wave of persecutions that followed the Great Fire of Rome.
Q 21Whose Greek-cross design won the competition for the new basilica, begun in 1506?
Donato Bramante
His dome was to rest on just four piers instead of a continuous wall, a feature kept to the very end.
Q 22The winning 1506 dome design was inspired by which ancient Roman building?
The Pantheon
The model's dome is a single shell of concrete lightened with tuff and pumice, with an 8-metre oculus at the top.
Q 23Which painter became architect of St. Peter's in 1514, only to die six years later aged 37?
Raphael
His plan added a five-bay nave with apsidal chapels off the aisles.
Q 14According to Jerome, how did Peter ask to be crucified?
Head downwards
He considered himself unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus.
Q 15The Egyptian obelisk in St. Peter's Square, a 'witness' to Peter's death, originally stood where?
The Circus of Nero
It is the only ancient obelisk in Rome never to have fallen since it was re-erected there in 37 AD.
Q 16Which pope announced the discovery of St. Peter's tomb in a radio broadcast on 23 December 1950?
Pius XII
Ten years of digging under the crypt had found bones wrapped in gold-decorated cloth tinted with murex purple.
Q 17To gather stone for a new basilica, Pope Nicholas V ordered the demolition of which ancient monument?
The Colosseum
By his death 2,522 cartloads had been carted off for the project.
Q 18Pope Julius II decided in 1505 to demolish the ancient basilica partly to house what?
His own enormous tomb
The tomb was to be sculpted by the greatest sculptor of the age; a design competition followed, and entries survive in the Uffizi.
Q 19Which German Dominican's sale of indulgences to fund the basilica provoked the scandal that led to the Reformation?
Johann Tetzel
He was appointed by Albrecht of Mainz, who owed debts to the Curia and cleared them by pushing the fundraising.
Q 20With which company did the Vatican build an AI 3D model of the basilica from drone photos in 2024?
Microsoft
The same partnership produced a Minecraft map called 'Peter is Here' for the 2025 Holy Year.
Q 24Which artist, then in his seventies, became Capomaestro of St. Peter's on 1 January 1547?
Michelangelo
He took the job reluctantly, writing that he did it 'only for the love of God and in honour of the Apostle'.
Q 25The dome's internal diameter of 41.47 m is slightly smaller than which earlier Renaissance dome?
Florence Cathedral
It is, however, about 30 feet wider than the dome of Constantinople's Hagia Sophia.
Q 26How many stone ribs run up the outer shell of the dome?
16
That is twice the number on Florence's dome; the outer ribs are matched by 16 pairs of Corinthian columns on the drum.
Q 27The dome was brought to completion in 1590, the last year of which energetic pope's reign?
Sixtus V
Lion's masks were added over the swags on the drum in his honour, and an inscription under the lantern records the date.
Q 28When cracks appeared in the dome in the mid-18th century, what was installed between its two shells?
Iron chains
They work like the hoops on a barrel; as many as ten have been fitted over the centuries.
Q 29The dome's inscription 'You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church' comes from which Gospel?
Matthew
The letters are 1.4 metres high, and the verse continues with the promise of the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
Q 30Who designed the basilica's facade and the nave that extended the Greek cross?
Carlo Maderno
His nave went up from 1607 with an army of 700 labourers, though critics have blamed it ever since for hiding the dome.