Lego: Vatican City Replica Made By Priest In Time For Papal Visit

The display coincides with other pieces at the Franklin Institute’s Vatican Splendors exhibition, which runs through February and showcases 2,000 years of Vatican history with more than 200 works of art and historically significant objects.

“I think there’s about half a million pieces in it”, he said.

A Philadelphia museum is displaying a priest’s Lego replica of the Vatican in its atrium ahead of Pope Francis’ planned visit to the city.

The detailed model incorporates St. Peter’s Square, a Lego pope on a balcony overlooking the crowd and Lego characters in the piazza, including a nun with a selfie stick and a bespectacled figurine of Simon. “So it was a natural thing to build churces”, Father Simon said. According to People Magazine on Friday, the artist took his time putting together the project by using a picture of the Vatican on the cover of a book jacket with some help from Google Earth, but he has been to the Vatican as well.

He has built a model of the Vatican complete with the St. Peter’s Square. Priest Bob Simon has created this structure with a half million bricks in less than a year, and this is his story.

While there are no plans for the head of the Catholic Church to pay a visit to the Franklin Institute to take in the LEGO replica, Fr Simon says he is not disappointed – he will be taking part in a Papal mass held on September 27.

“It took about ten months”. Pastor Simon said that he wanted to show a lot of diversity. He’s constructed the entire Vatican, St. Peter’s Square and even Lego parishioners. A friend then suggested The Franklin Institute might be interested. Unfortunately, the current word is that Pope Francis won’t be stopping by at all, according to The Independent.