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Saint Peter - Vatican City

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At the center of the ellipse stands an Egyptian obelisk of red granite, 25.5 meters tall, supported on bronze lions and surmounted by the Chigi arms in bronze, in all 41 meters to the cross on its top. The obelisk, of the 13th century BC, was moved to Rome in AD 37 by the Emperor Caligula to stand in the central spina of the Circus Gai et Neronis, which lay to the left of the present basilica. 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 (illustrated right). The Vatican Obelisk is the only obelisk in Rome that has not toppled since Roman times. During the Middle Ages, the gilt ball on top of the obelisk was believed to contain the ashes of Julius Caesar. Fontana later removed the ancient metal ball, now in a Rome museum, that stood atop the obelisk and found only dust. Though Bernini had no influence in the erection of the obelisk, he did use it as the centerpiece of his magnificent piazza.
The paving is varied by radiating lines in travertine, to relieve what might otherwise be a sea of cobblestones. In 1817 circular stones were set to mark the tip of the obelisk's shadow at noon as the sun entered each of the signs of the zodiac, making the obelisk a gigantic sundial's gnomon.

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 Treaties of 1929). The spina which once occupied this grand avenue leading to the square was demolished ceremonially by Mussolini himself on October 23, 1936 and was completely demolished by October 8, 1937. St. Peter's basilica was now freely visible from the Castel Sant Angelo. The effect of its demolition however was to destroy the characteristic Baroque "surprise". The Via della Conciliazione was completed in time for the Great Jubilee of 1950.

Apartments in Rome

Vivaldi

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Rossini

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Bellini

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Corelli

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Puccini

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Toscanini

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Vivaldi de Luxe

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San Pietro

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Franca

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Mascherino

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Giusy

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Terrazzo San Pietro

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