San Pietro in Vincoli
Michelangelo's horned Moses shares this church with the chains that supposedly bound St. Peter.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Rome offline.
Two heavyweight draws under one roof: Michelangelo's marble Moses (finished 1515), the surviving centerpiece of Pope Julius II's abandoned 47-statue tomb, and the reliquary of Peter's chains that give the church its name.
What to look for
- Moses's two horns, a literal carving of a Hebrew word meaning both 'beams of light' and 'horns.'
- The reliquary under the main altar holding the chains tradition says Empress Eudoxia gave to Pope Leo I around 438.
- The burial place of Antonio del Pollaiuolo, left of the entrance, the sculptor who added Romulus and Remus to the Capitoline Wolf.
On the Oppian Hill by Cavour metro station, a short walk from the Colosseum.
San Pietro in Vincoli is one of 40 sights worth the detour in Rome, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Rome pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Rome
- Vatican CityThe world's smallest sovereign state fits in 44 hectares — you cross its border by stepping over a white line.
- ColosseumAround 50,000 Romans packed this stone oval to watch spectacles staged over a two-level warren of cages beneath the arena floor.
- St. Peter's BasilicaThe world's largest church, built directly over the grave believed to hold St. Peter's bones.
- Sistine ChapelMichelangelo painted the ceiling standing up, not on his back — and cardinals still elect the pope in this room.
- PantheonA 1,900-year-old concrete dome with a hole punched in the top — when it rains in Rome, it rains inside too.
- Stadio OlimpicoOne 70,634-seat bowl, two cross-town tenants: AS Roma and SS Lazio both play here.