View source for St. Peter's Square

{{Short description|Piazza in Vatican City}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox urban feature
|name=St. Peter's Square
|native_name=Piazza San Pietro
|native_name_lang=it
|location=[[Vatican City]]
|place_type=City square
|image_place=St Peter's Square, Vatican City - April 2007.jpg
|image_caption=St. Peter's Square (facing [[St. Peter's Basilica]]), and the obelisk from the [[Circus of Nero]]
|imagesize=285px
|coordinates={{coord|41.9022|12.4572|format=dms|type:landmark_region:IT|display=inline,title}}
|image_map=
| mapframe-wikidata = yes
| mapframe-zoom = 14
|designer=[[Gianlorenzo Bernini]]
}}

'''St. Peter's Square''' ({{langx|la|Forum Sancti Petri}}, {{langx|it|Piazza San Pietro}} {{IPA|it|ˈpjattsa sam ˈpjɛːtro|}}) is a large plaza located directly in front of [[St. Peter's Basilica]] in [[Vatican City]], the [[pope|papal]] [[enclave and exclave|enclave]] in [[Rome]], directly west of the neighborhood ([[rione]]) of [[Borgo (rione of Rome)|Borgo]]. Both the square and the basilica are named after [[Saint Peter]], an apostle of [[Jesus]] whom Catholics consider the first [[Pope]].

At the centre of the square is the [[Vatican obelisk]], an [[List of Egyptian obelisks#Vaticano|ancient Egyptian obelisk]] erected at the current site in 1586. [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]] designed the square almost 100 years later, including the massive Tuscan [[colonnades]],<ref>William Tronzo, ed., ''St. Peter's in the Vatican'', Cambridge University Press, 2005, page 149.</ref><ref>Franco Mormondo, Bernini: His Life and His Rome, University of Chicago Press, 2011, page 203.</ref> four columns deep, which embrace visitors in "the maternal arms of Mother Church". A granite fountain constructed by Bernini in 1675 matches another fountain designed by [[Carlo Maderno]] in 1613.

==History==
{{Multiple images
| image1            = Fresco of Piazza S. Pietro.jpg
| caption1          = Fresco of St. Peter's Square, c.&nbsp;1587, before the dome of the new St. Peter's Basilica or the façade had been built<ref>{{cite book |last=Decker |first=Heinrich |title=The Renaissance in Italy: Architecture • Sculpture • Frescoes |date=1969 |publisher=Viking Press |isbn=9780500231074 |page=282}}</ref>
| image2            = Old St Peter's Basilica, Rome, about the year 1450 restored from ancient authorities.jpg
| caption2          = A reconstruction of Old Saint Peter's in 1450; at left is the obelisk in its previous location
}}
The open space which lies before the basilica was redesigned by [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]] from 1656 to 1667, under the direction of [[Pope Alexander VII]], as an appropriate forecourt, designed "so that the greatest number of people could see the Pope give his blessing, either from the middle of the façade of the church or from a window in the Vatican Palace".<ref>Norwich (1975), p. 175)</ref> Bernini had been working on the interior of St. Peter's for decades; now he gave order to the space with his renowned colonnades, using a Tuscan order,<ref>William Tronzo, ed., ''St. Peter's in the Vatican'', Cambridge University Press, 2005, page 149.</ref><ref>Franco Mormondo, Bernini: His Life and His Rome, University of Chicago Press, 2011, page 203.</ref> to avoid competing with the palace-like façade by [[Carlo Maderno]], but he employed it on an unprecedented colossal scale to suit the space and evoke a sense of awe.

There were many constraints from existing structures (''illustration, right''). The massed accretions of the [[Apostolic Palace|Vatican Palace]] crowded the space to the right of the basilica's façade; the structures needed to be masked without obscuring the papal apartments. The [[Vatican obelisk]] marked a centre, and a granite fountain by Maderno<ref>It was set up in 1613 by order of [[Pope Paul V|Paul V]]</ref> stood to one side: Bernini made the fountain appear to be one of the foci of the [[ovato tondo]]<ref>The actual foci are marked in the paving by roundels of stone six or seven metres beyond the outer ring of the compass rose centered on the obelisk, on either side. When the visitor stands on one, the ranks of columns line up perfectly behind one another. (Touring Club Italiano, ''Roma e Dintorni'').</ref> embraced by his colonnades. In architecture, an "ovato tondo" is an oval shape that is also circular. It is often used to create a large, enclosed space with an oval shape.  In 1675, Bernini eventually matched Maderno's fountain on the other side just five years before his death. The [[trapezoid]]al shape of the piazza, which creates a heightened [[perspective (visual)|perspective]] for a visitor leaving the basilica and has been praised as a masterstroke of [[Baroque]] theater (''illustration, below right''), is largely a product of site constraints.

According to the [[Lateran Treaty]] the area of St. Peter's Square is subject to the authority of Italian police for crowd control even though it is a part of the Vatican state.

===Colonnades===
[[File:018ColonnatoSPietro.JPG|thumb|St. Peter's Square colonnades]]
The colossal Tuscan colonnades, four columns deep,<ref>There are 248 columns and 88 pilasters; 140 over lifesize saints crown the cornice; the coats of arms are of [[Alexander VII]].</ref> frame the trapezoidal entrance to the basilica and the massive elliptical area<ref>The ovato tondo is 240 metres across.</ref> which precedes it. The ovato tondo's long axis, parallel to the basilica's façade, creates a pause in the sequence of forward movements that is characteristic of a Baroque monumental approach. The colonnades define the piazza. The elliptical center of the piazza, which contrasts with the trapezoidal entrance, encloses the visitor with "the maternal arms of Mother Church" in Bernini's expression. On the south side, the colonnades define and formalize the space, with the Barberini Gardens still rising to a skyline of umbrella pines. On the north side, the colonnade masks an assortment of Vatican structures; the upper stories of the Vatican Palace rise above.

===Obelisk===
{{Main|Vatican obelisk}}
[[File:Obelisk of St. Peter.jpg|thumb|upright=0.4|The obelisk today]]
At the center of the ''ovato tondo'' stands the [[Vatican obelisk]], an uninscribed [[Obelisk#Egyptian|Egyptian obelisk]] of red [[granite]], {{cvt|25.5|m}} tall, supported on bronze lions and surmounted by the [[Chigi-Albani family|Chigi]] arms in bronze, in all {{cvt|41|m}} to the [[Christian cross|cross]] on its top. The obelisk was originally erected in [[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]], Egypt, by an unknown pharaoh.

The Emperor [[Augustus]] had the obelisk moved to the Julian Forum of [[Alexandria]], where it stood until AD&nbsp;37, when [[Caligula]] ordered the forum demolished and the obelisk transferred to Rome. He had it placed on the [[Spina (Roman circus)#Spina|spina]] which ran along the center of the [[Circus of Nero]].
It was moved to its current site in 1586 by the engineer-architect [[Domenico Fontana]] under the direction of [[Pope Sixtus V]]; the engineering feat of re-erecting its vast weight was memorialized in a suite of engravings. The obelisk is the only [[Obelisks in Rome|obelisk in Rome]] that has not toppled since antiquity. During the [[Middle Ages]], the gilt ball atop the obelisk was believed to contain the ashes of [[Julius Caesar]].<ref>Touring Club Italiano, ''Roma e Dintorni'', which furnishes the statistics in these notes.</ref> Fontana later removed the ancient metal ball, now in a Roman museum, and found only dust inside; Christopher Hibbert, however, writes that the ball was found to be solid. Though Bernini had no influence in the erection of the obelisk, he did use it as the centerpiece of his magnificent piazza, and added the Chigi arms to the top in honor of his patron, [[Alexander VII]].

===Paving===
The paving is varied by radiating lines in [[travertine]], to relieve what might otherwise be a sea of [[Sett (paving)|setts]]. In 1817 circular stones were set to mark the tip of the [[obelisk]]'s [[shadow]] at noon as the sun entered each of the [[Astrological sign|signs]] of the [[zodiac]], making the obelisk a gigantic [[sundial]]'s [[gnomon]]. Below is a view of St. Peter's Square from the [[cupola]] (the top of the dome) which was taken in June 2007.

===Spina===
St. Peter's Square today can be reached from the [[Ponte Sant'Angelo]] along the grand approach of the [[Via della Conciliazione]] (in honor of the [[Lateran Treaty]] of 1929). The ''spina'' (median with buildings which divided the two roads of ''[[Borgo Vecchio (Rome)|Borgo Vecchio]]'' and ''[[Borgo Nuovo (Rome)|Borgo nuovo]]'') which once occupied this grand avenue leading to the square was demolished ceremonially by [[Benito Mussolini]] himself on October 23, 1936, and was completely demolished by October 8, 1937, creating a long, wide vista from [[Castel Sant'Angelo]] to St. Peter's Basilica. After the spina, almost all the buildings south of the [[Passetto di Borgo|passetto]] were demolished between 1937 and 1950. This obliterated an important medieval and renaissance quarter of the city. Moreover, the demolition of the spina erased the characteristically [[Baroque]] surprise of suddenly moving from a confined space to a much larger one; visitors today still get this effect when entering from ''[[Borgo Santo Spirito]]''. The Via della Conciliazione was completed in time for the [[Jubilee (Christian)|Great Jubilee]] of 1950.

{{Panorama
|image   = Vatican_City_and_St._Peter_Square_evening_twilight_aerial_view.jpg
|height  = 260
|caption = {{center|Evening aerial view of the piazza and basilica}}
}}

==See also==
*[[Index of Vatican City–related articles]]
*[[List of works by Gian Lorenzo Bernini]]

==References==
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{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Hibbert, Christopher, 1985, ''Rome: The biography of a city'', London, Penguin.
* Norwich, John Julius, ed. 1975 ''Great Architecture of the World'' {{ISBN|0-394-49887-9}}
* Touring Club Italiano, ''Roma e Dintorni''

==External links==
{{Commons|Piazza San Pietro}}
{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | video1 = [http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/berninis-saint-peters-square.html Bernini's St. Peter's Square], [[Smarthistory]]}}
*[http://www.stpetersbasilica.info/Exterior/Colonnades/Saints-List-Colonnades.htm stpetersbasilica.info] Pages for all 140 Colonnade Saints
*[http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Piazza_of_St._Peters.html Great Buildings On-line:] Piazza of St. Peter's
*[http://www.romeartlover.it/Vasi27.htm Roberto Piperno, "Piazza di S. Pietro":] engravings by Vasi
*[http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/stpeters/stpeters2.html Mary Ann Sullivan, "St Peter's Piazza, Vatican City"]
*[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Obeliscus_Vaticanus.html Obeliscus Vaticanus] LacusCurtius.com, The Vatican obelisk, retrieved September 4, 2006
*[http://legendaryrome.blogspot.it/2013/05/the-obelisk-of-saint-peters-square.html The legend of the cry of Bresca] Legendary Rome
*[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/egypt/raising/rome.html Rome, Nova Online, Mysteries of the Nile, A World of Obelisks: Rome] pbs.org, retrieved September 4, 2006
*[http://www.leonhouses.com/saint-peter-view.html St. Peter's Square], Bernini's Fountain

{{Vatican City topics}}
{{Papal symbols and ceremonial}}
{{Holy See}}
{{Gian Lorenzo Bernini}}
{{Monuments of Rome}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Colonnades]]
[[Category:Gian Lorenzo Bernini buildings]]
[[Category:Italy–Vatican City border crossings]]
[[Category:National squares]]
[[Category:Squares in Europe|Vatican]]
[[Category:St. Peter's Basilica]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Vatican City]]