<Tr> <Th> State Party </Th> <Td> Holy See </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Region </Th> <Td> Europe and North America </Td> </Tr> <P> The Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri), is an Italian Renaissance church in Vatican City, the papal enclave within the city of Rome . </P> <P> Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and the largest church in the world . While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, St. Peter's is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines . It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world" and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom". </P>

St. peter’s basilica the head of the catholic religion is located in