St Peter's Square in Rome

St Peter's Square is situated in the core of the Vatican City (the smallest state in the world) and represents one of the most popular squares in Italy and worldwide. It was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the 17th Century, by the order of Pope Alexander VII, with the intention of allowing an even greater number of people to see the Pope giving his blessing. The final solution involved dividing the square in two sections: the one nearest to the basilica to be of a trapezoid shape, which narrows and gives the impression of visual perspective. The second part of the piazza is designed as a huge ellipse to make the church seem nearer than it is. Both areas are surrounded by an imposing double colonnade, composed of 284 columns and 88 pillars in a quadruple row, which according to Bernini symbolises the “the maternal arms of Mother Church”. The Barberini Gardens are rising there with old pines and on the north side of the square the colonnade forms an assortment of Vatican structures, with the Vatican Palace standing above. The piazza is entirely designed in Baroque style.

The east end of the striking square leads to the St Peter’s Basilica, the greatest of all churches in the Christian world. Maderno was the first architect who had worked on the interior of the basilica and later on, Bernini had put much effort to turn the church into something amazing. The Catholics respect it also as the burial site of St Peter, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus and the first bishop of Rome. It is a place of pilgrimages and has a long history as a site of the papacy. It is a work of architecture and is regarded as the greatest building from that time. The iconic dome erases stately to the skyline of Rome.

At the centre of the St Peter’s square stands an Egyptian obelisk, made of red granite and supported on bronze lions. The obelisk was built in the 13th Century BC and was brought to Rome in 37 BC by Emperor Caligola. During the Middle Ages, people believed that the bronze ball on top of the obelisk contained the ashes of Julius Caesar. It is the Baroque inspiration of Bernini, who made it 25.5 metres high and thus it is the second largest obelisk that has not toppled since its removal from Egypt. Its current position was ordered by Pope Sixtus V and designed by the engineer Domenico Fontana, who later removed the metal ball and replaced it with a cross.

Another landmark on the Bernini’s square is the large fountain, designed by Maderna and constructed in 1613. According to the initial plan, the fountain had to follow the horizontal axis of the square and the solutions were that the piazza was made rectangular and the obelisk stood centrally, or the piazza was made trapezoid. If the plans were to be executed, the fountain would cause the demolition of many buildings or maximise the obvious width of the facade, which was already perceived as an error of the design.

Today, St Peter’s Square can be reached from the Ponte St Angelo, along the Via della Conciliazione, which was built by the architects Piacentini and Spaccarelli in 1936. The street was constructed in honour of the Lateran Treaty of 1929 by the order of Mussolini, but was completely demolished to be rebuilt later by the architects for the Great Jubilee of 1950. An old Medieval village had to be destroyed, together with its typical narrow streets and this caused controversy. St Peter's Basilica can be freely viewed now from the Castel Sant Angelo.