Regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines, the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican is the largest church in the world. While the church’s initial foundation stone was placed in 1506, it was Michelangelo who reshaped the church to resemble the Greek Cross and added the centrally placed dome. The dome itself is 448 feet from the floor of the basilica to the top of the external cross; its diameter measures 136 feet.
