I visited St. Peeter’s Basilica with my family on our trip to Rome a couple of years ago and the architecture and decore on the Basilica blew my mind. I am not a religious person and we only visited the Vatican to see the beautiful architecture and sculptures and it did not disappoint. As a non-religious person, I felt for the first time that I could understand how someone could believe in some greater power when looking up at the majesty of the domes and arches filled with stone carvings and beautiful paintings. The Basilica is so rich in culture and style that you feel that you are walking through history when moving through the building. 

when looking back at that trip the architecture of the St. Peeter’s Basilica imprinted a mindset of how religious buildings should feel and look I have been to other churches both before and after, and even though they have never quite managed to reach the same height I could always feel part of that grandeur in the building.

(not necessarily related to the St. Peeter’s Basilica, but a slight criticism of modern American churches ending this blog)

I did feel that way until I came to the US for college. I have never been in a place with a higher percentage of religious people, and never in a place with an equally high concentration of churches, yet I have never been more disappointed in church architecture. I feel that the churches that I have seen so far, especially in Oklahoma have been difficult to point out with the exception of a cross and it makes me a bit sad to see the grandeur that I appreciated in St. Peter’s Basilica completely lacking from local churches.