The Basilica of San Silvestro in Capite was founded by Pope Paul I in 761 AD. It was built as a shrine to receive the relics of the saints and martyrs from the Catacombs which were being attacked and desecrated at that time.

Eight popes are buried in the basilica, including the patron, Pope St. Sylvester I, who died in 335 AD. The high altar is designed by Michaelangelo and the basilica contains numerous paintings and frescoes of great artistic merit. The paintings in the church date from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The original document, which initiated the building of the Church was issued by Pope Paul I on 2nd June, 761. The Church was built to received the venerated remains of early Christian saints who were buried in the Catacombs. There are two marble tablests at the entrance to the Church on which are inscribed the names of some of the saints and martyrs who are buried in the Church.

The original Church was built in the style of the ancient basilicas: a central nave and two side aisles with a row of pillars on either side. The style and structure of the Church has changed somewhat throughout the centuries. The typical Roman tower was added during the renovation of the early 12th century. The reconstruction of the Church to its present-day appearance dates from 1523-1534. The ornamentation of the interior by Mattia de Rossi was completed in 1689 giving the church that quality of unity amid variety so representative of the late baroque period.

Pope Leo XIII designated San Silvestro in Capite as church for the English-speaking peoples in 1995. The Basilica is the titular church of His Eminence Desmond Cardinal Connell, Archibishop Emeritus of Dublin. It is staffed by priest and brothers of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate, more commonly known as the Pallottines, a name derived from the founder, St. Vincent Pallotti (1795-1850).

St. Peter's Basilica was the fourth century church begun by the Emperor Constantine between 326 and 333 AD. It was of typical basilical Latin Cross form with an apsidal end at the chancel, a wide nave and two aisles on either side. It was over 103.6 metres (350 ft) long and the entrance was preceded by a large colonnaded atrium. This church had been built over the small shrine believed to mark the burial place of St. Peter. It contained a very large number of burials and memorials, including those of most of the popes from St. Peter to the 15th century.
By the end of the 15th century, having been neglected during the period of the Avignon Papacy, the old basilica was in bad repair. It appears that the first pope to consider rebuilding, or at least making radical changes was Pope Nicholas V(1447 – 55). He commissioned work on the old building from Leone Battista Alberti and Bernardo Rossellino and also got Rossellino to design a plan for an entirely new basilica, or an extreme modification of the old. His reign was frustrated by political problems and when he died, little had been achieved. He had, however, had 2,522 cartloads of stone transported from the Roman Colosseum.
In 1505, Pope Julius II, failing to heed warnings that the death of Nicholas V was an omen to those who might interfere with St Peter's, in order to glorify Rome and also undoubtedly for his own self agrandizement, made a decision to demolish the ancient building and replace with something grander. A competition was held, and a number of the designs have survived at the Uffizi Gallery. A succession of popes and architects followed in the next 120 years, their combined efforts resulting in the present building.