April 18th 1506 saw the beginning of the end for the almost 1200-year-old St. Peter's basilica on the Vatican Hill in Rome. For on this day, under the supervision of the chief architect Donato Bramante, the foundation stone was laid for a new St. Peter's Cathedral. In a sequence of bitter power struggles, shattering defeats and glorious triumphs Bramante, Sangallo, Raffael, Michelangelo, Maderno and Bernini created this world-famous centre of the Roman Catholic church. The Reformation ...moreand the Counter-Reformation might well have taken a quite different course without this building. Like a huge precious shell the dome envelops the humble tomb, buried within its depths, of the Apostle Peter, designated by Jesus to bear responsibility for the Christian faith. The documentary "Thou art Peter - and upon this rock I will build my church" describes the creation of a miracle. ...hide