The heart of the project is the creation of a digital twin of St. Peter’s Basilica through advanced photogrammetry and artificial intelligence that allows anyone to “visit” the church and learn about its history.

The Vatican and Microsoft on Monday unveiled a digital twin of St. Peter`s Basilica that uses artificial intelligence to explore one of the world`s most important monuments while helping the Holy See manage visitor flows and identify conservation problems.

Every nook and cranny of Saint Peter's Basilica will soon be laid bare thanks to artificial intelligence and a trove of 400,000 photos of the celebrated Vatican monument, according to

To help the Holy See manage tourist flows and identify conservation issues, the Vatican and Microsoft unveiled a ‘digital twin’ of St. Peter’s Basilica—an AI-generated model of the Basilica—on November 11.