ST. PETER’S MEMORIAL
The new memorial upon the traditional House of St. Peter was built by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land in order to shelter the archaeological remains of the Insula Sacra, and to make the same ruins more accessible to the visitors. The inside of the edifice is primarily reserved to religious services.
The main bulk of the building, which is hovering over the remains of the House of Simon Peter the fisherman, conveys in some way the image of a boat. The same idea is suggested by the wall decorations made up of stylized fish, waves and nets.
The four wooden panels inside the church are the work of the artists Raoul Vistoli (The Blessed Virgin entering the House of Peter, and St. Peter on a boat). And of Giovanni Dragoni (The Crucifixion and Jesus in the House of Peter). More panels are expected to embellish the interior surfaces of the Memorial. The mosaic of the altar (of Enzo Rossi) combines the biblical theme of the manna in the desert and of the multiplication of loaves. Some passages of the fourth Gospel relating the famous speech on the bread of life, mad by Jesus in the synagogue of Capharnaum, are engraved on the walls of the presbytery. The central tabernacle (of Igino Legnaghi) reproduce the biblical law later. The artistic bronze railing (of Tavani) around the central oculus of the Memorial and along the entrance staircase, is a combination of Christian symbols.
The Memorial was dedicated by Cardinal Lourdusami on June 29, 1990. That date was engraved on the plinths of the façade. In that memorial occasion the Holy Father John Paul II sent a special message, part of which has been engraved on both sides of the entrance.
The ancient texts of Egeria and of the Placentinus, together with the new dedicatory inscription, stress the continuity of the Christian tradition on this holy place which was at the same time the house of Peter, the house of Jesus, and the cradle of Christianity.
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