Saint Peter's Square
Bernini shaped the plaza as two open arms of columns — and left two spots on the pavement where that whole forest snaps into a single row.
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Bernini's 1667–1676 oval runs 240 metres across, ringed by colonnades four columns deep (248 columns, 88 pilasters) with 140 over-lifesize saints along the cornice. At its center stands an Egyptian red-granite obelisk that Domenico Fontana hauled here from the Circus of Nero in 1586 — the only one in Rome never to topple since antiquity.
What to look for
- The two stone roundels set into the paving, six or seven metres from the compass rose on either side of the obelisk — stand dead-center on one and the four ranks of columns line up perfectly behind one another.
- The obelisk's tip: the ancient metal ball once believed to hold Julius Caesar's ashes was removed by Fontana and found to hold only dust — it now sits in a Roman museum, replaced up top by a cross and the Chigi coat of arms.
- Circular stones added in 1817 marking where the obelisk's noon shadow falls as the sun enters each zodiac sign — the square doubles as a giant sundial.
Open public forecourt to St. Peter's Basilica, with two fountains — Maderno's from 1613, Bernini's from 1675.
Saint Peter's Square is one of 40 sights worth the detour in Rome, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Rome pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Rome
- Vatican CityThe world's smallest sovereign state fits in 44 hectares — you cross its border by stepping over a white line.
- ColosseumAround 50,000 Romans packed this stone oval to watch spectacles staged over a two-level warren of cages beneath the arena floor.
- St. Peter's BasilicaThe world's largest church, built directly over the grave believed to hold St. Peter's bones.
- Sistine ChapelMichelangelo painted the ceiling standing up, not on his back — and cardinals still elect the pope in this room.
- PantheonA 1,900-year-old concrete dome with a hole punched in the top — when it rains in Rome, it rains inside too.
- Stadio OlimpicoOne 70,634-seat bowl, two cross-town tenants: AS Roma and SS Lazio both play here.