St. Peter's Square
St Peter’s Square or Piazza San Pietro is one of the world’s most famous squares and one of the most breath-taking. Designed by Bernini during the seventeenth century, it houses over 300,000 people.
St. Peter's Square is one of the largest and most beautiful squares in the world. It is located in Vatican City, at the feet of St. Peter's Basilica.
The dimensions of the square are spectacular: 320 meters long and 240 meters wide. In the liturgies and more noticeable events St. Peter's Square in the Vatican has held more than 300,000 people.
The construction of the square was carried out between 1656 and 1667 at the hand of Bernini, with the support of Pope Alexander XII.
What to see in St. Peter's Square
The most impressive part of St. Peter's Square, besides its size, is its 284 columns and 88 pilasters that flank the square in a colonnade of four rows. Above the columns, there are 140 statues of saints created in 1670 by the disciples of Bernini.
In the centre of the square, the obelisk and the two fountains, one of Berni ni (1675) and another of Maderno (1614) stand out. The obelisk, which is 25 meters in height, was carried to Rome from Egypt in 1586.
The most spectacular way to arrive at St. Peter's Square is along the Via della Conciliazione, a long street that begins in the Castel Sant'Angelo.
Transport
Metro station: Ottaviano, line A (red)
Nearby places
St. Peter's Basilica (205 m) Sistine Chapel (261 m) Vatican City (384 m) Vatican Museums (584 m) Castel Sant'Angelo (766 m)
