San Pietro in Vincoli -Michelangelo's Moses

Below are some pictures taken from the Basilica San Pietro in Vincoli, the home of Michelangelo's magnificent statue of Moses (below). I visited the Church for the first time this past weekend with friends from Washington, DC (former housemate of Quincy Street). Also located in this church are what are believed to be the chains that bound Saint Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem.

Known as the Basilica Eudoxiana, it was first built in 432-440 to house the relic of the chains that bound Saint Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem. According to legend, when the Empress Eudoxia (wife of Emperor Valentinian III) gifted the chains to Pope Leo I, while he compared them to the chains of St. Peter's final imprisonment in the Mamertine Prison in Rome, the two chains miraculously fused together. The chains are kept in a reliquary under the main altar in the basilica.

The basilica underwent several restorations and rebuildings, among them a restoration by Pope Adrian I, rebuilding by Pope Sixtus IV and by Pope Julius II. There was also a renovation in 1875. The front portico, attributed to Baccio Pontelli, was added in 1475. The cloister (1493-1503) has been attributed to Giuliano da Sangallo.