St Peter’s basilica in the Vatican City in RomeRome This Italian city was the capital of the Roman Empire and, with the primacy accorded to the bishops of Rome (the popes), the centre of the Western Church from the late-Antique period onwards. Rome was not only the administrative centre, but an important source of innovation, relics and liturgy. Missionaries from Rome played an important role in the conversion of Anglo-Saxon England from late 6th century onward. is the largest church in Christendom. A church was built by Constantine over what was believed to be the grave of St Peter c.312. This was replaced by a medieval cathedralCathedral (Latin cathedra' throne') Church which contains the throne of the bishop and hence the mother church of the diocese. The present basilica was begun in the early 16th century AD. It was, and is, a major pilgrimage centre