The Cathedral of San Pietro in Vincoli

Empress Eudoxenia received “honest faiths” as a gift from her mother. She later gave the relic to Pope Leo I. According to legend, when Leo I compared the gift he received to the chains of Peter in the Mamertin prison in Rome, the two chains miraculously connected. The chains are stored in a reliquary under the main altar.

The basilica was illuminated in 439 by Pope Sixtus III. The cathedral has been rebuilt many times.

To date, Donald William Wuerl, American Cardinal, has been a cardinal priest with the title of Church of San Pietro in Vincoli since November 20, 2010.

San Pietro in Vincoli is best known as the home of Michelangelo’s statue of Moses. The statue is a tribute to the famous prophet. It is central to the tomb of Pope Julius II. The prophet is depicted with horns because of the similarity of the Hebrew words “rays of light” and “horns”.

Also buried in the cathedral are Italian Cardinal Sinzio Aldobrandini and Florentine sculptor Antonio Polaiolo.