World Heritage Sites
Pyramids
Pyramids are monumental structures with a rectangular base and sloping sides that meet at an apex or a truncated platform. Built on several continents since the third millennium BCE, they range from Old Kingdom royal tombs in Egypt to stepped temple-platforms in Mesoamerica and steep Nubian royal pyramids in Sudan.
Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel is the papal chapel within the Apostolic Palace of Vatican City, renowned for its Renaissance frescoes by Michelangelo and for hosting papal conclaves. Built for Pope Sixtus IV in the late 15th century, it preserves cycles by leading Quattrocento painters and later additions including Michelangelo’s ceiling (1508–1512) and The Last Judgment (1536–1541).
St. Peter’s Basilica
St. Peter’s Basilica is the principal papal basilica in Vatican City, begun in 1506 under Pope Julius II and consecrated in 1626. Designed and completed by successive masters of the Renaissance and Baroque—including Bramante, Michelangelo, Maderno, and Bernini—it stands over the site traditionally venerated as the tomb of the Apostle Peter and forms the focal complex of St. Peter’s Square.