St. Peter's Square in Rome: photoes and reviews of tourists

St. Peter's Square in Rome is by right the most famous and popular among Christians and ordinary tourists. In Italian, its name will sound like Piazza San Pietro. A historical complex is built in honor of the keyman of St. Peter's paradise, so the panorama of the ensemble from a great height resembles a keyhole.

Architect of St. Peter's Square

The ideologist and creator of this great complex was the famous Italian esthete and sculptor Giovanni Bernini. Born in December 1598 in Naples, in the family of an architect. From his father Giovanni inherited the talent of creation in the Baroque style.

At the age of 7, Bernini began to make the first sketches. At that time the Giovanni family moved to Rome, where Peter was one of the most revered saints. A year later the young artist made a portrait of the Great Martyr, after which the boy was immediately christened the second by Michelangelo. In 1614, Bernini created his debut sculpture, dedicated to St. Lawrence. The plaster bust so impressed Cardinal Borghese that he decided to take the young man to his villa and make him a personal artist.

Soon Giovanni was knighted and became one of the best friends of Pope Urban VIII. There is even an opinion that Bernini was the chief adviser to Cardinal Barberini. Under such authoritative patronage, the young architect had the opportunity to implement his new grandiose ideas without hindrance. It was during this period that he conceived the design of St. Peter's Square in the Vatican in the Baroque style.
In the middle of 1620 Giovanni had a family drama. For a long time he was in a relationship with the beautiful Constance. The soulful idyll of two hearts was broken by the betrayal of the girl with his younger brother. Unable to withstand the betrayal, Bernini beat Luigi until unconscious, and then gave the order to disfigure the face of Constance beyond recognition. However, these crimes easily got away with the sculptor, as he was interrupted by Pope Urban VIII.

All this shook Bernini's psyche, but the church also came to help. The architect was commissioned to reconstruct St. Peter's Square. Bernini wanted to be distracted from his spiritual torment, and so gladly agreed. In the summer of 1641 the first stone was laid in the construction of a new square.

Today in honor of Giovanni called the crater on Mercury, and the image of his face flaunts on a 50-thousand dollar note of the Italian lira.

The uniqueness of St. Peter's Square

In 1663 the church complex in the Vatican was completely finished. The head of the construction of Bernini was beside himself with joy and pride in his project. Today St. Peter's Square in Rome is considered the main architectural ensemble of Italy and, probably, the whole of Europe. The complex consists of two parts: oval and trapezoidal. Both areas are on the same axis with St. Peter's. During the construction of the complex, Bernini took advantage of the so-called monumental saturation. So, the main square of St. Peter is surrounded by high powerful columns, standing in 4 rows. Ancient architects loved elliptical forms, as they created a sense of mobility and instability. A similar technique Baroque used in his projects and Giovanni.

The center of the square is decorated with a grandiose Egyptian obelisk and two unique fountains. Ensemble Bernini allowed to form in a disorderly built-up megacity a majestic monumental background for church processions and other solemn acts.

One of the attractions of the complex is the Rock Regia, which was also created by Giovanni. It is a royal staircase leading to the Vatican Palace from St. Peter's Basilica. When designing the Rocks, Bernini used the reception of an illusory perspective, so a person feels about as if he were in a theater. St. Peter's Square itself is divided into 8 improvised paths. Thanks to this reception, a clearly pronounced center in the form of the sun was formed in the middle of the complex.

The Legend of the Obelisk

Today, the square in front of St. Peter's Basilica is first of all noteworthy for the 37-meter-high Egyptian stela located centrally, but this was not always the case. There is a legend that in 1586, by the order of the Pope, the architects had to raise the obelisk at any price at the meter pedestal. Dozens of men had difficulty dragging the stele to give it a vertical position. Suddenly, the ropes began to break one by one, and the obelisk deviated more and more. Chief architect Fontana was frightened, he did not know how to fix the situation. Then the legendary Captain Bresca came to the rescue. He ran to the workers and began to water the ropes with water, his example was followed by other people. Soon the ropes were wet, they became elastic and elastic. As a result, the incident was exhausted, and by the end of the day the obelisk was installed on its legal pedestal.

Today, in honor of Captain Breck in San Remo, one of the squares is named.

History of St. Peter's Cathedral

This architectural Catholic complex is considered the most important building of the Vatican. The square of St. Peter's Cathedral is also the main ceremonial place of the entire Roman church. It was created by such cult architects and artists as Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael and, of course, Bernini. St. Peter's Cathedral is the largest Catholic church in the world. Its capacity is 60 thousand people. In ancient times on the site of the construction there were ornamental gardens of Nero. The first version of the cathedral was built in 326, at the time of the reign of Emperor Constantine. Until the 15th century it was never reconstructed, so the building gradually collapsed. And only under Julia II from the ancient basilica was erected a powerful palace, given to the Catholic Church for service. During the following century, such legendary figures as Donato Bramante, Raphael, Peruzzi, Sangallo, Michelangelo, della Porta, Vignola, Maderno and, finally, Bernini, made their hand to the cathedral.

Facade of St. Peter's Basilica

Its height is 48 m and its width is almost 120 m. The attic of the facade is decorated with grandiose 6-meter-high statues of Christ, eleven apostles and John the Baptist. The only evidence and reminder of the ancient basilica are the doors of the main portal of the cathedral, which have survived since the 15th century. In total, 5 ceremonial entrances lead to the church. In front of the main is the famous mosaic of Giotto called "Navicella", made in the late 8th century.

In the left part of the facade of the portal are the "Gate of Death". Their author was Giacomo Manzu. Work on the project went on for 15 years, until 1964.

Interior of St. Peter's Basilica

Inside the structure is also striking view with its grandiose size and rich design. The central hair dryer stretches for 212 m. At the end of the basilica is the famous wonderworking statue of St. Peter. The main dome stands on large columns, at an altitude of 120 m, and in diameter it has about 42 m. Above the altar is a huge cave, the width of which is 29 m. It is installed on 4 decorative columns, on which statues of archangels stand majestically. For the cognac is the department of St. Peter, created by the project of Bernini. On the left and right, the altar is decorated with the unique works of della Porta, Michelangelo, Cavallini and Giovanni himself.

Reviews of St. Peter's Square

Any tour of Italy should begin with this architectural ensemble. On St. Peter's Square you can easily come by metro or come on foot. As shown by numerous eyewitness accounts, the first thing that strikes the eye is the powerful columns on both sides of the complex. The main attraction is the Obelisk, near which there are always a lot of tourists.

The entrance to St. Peter's Square is absolutely free, as in the Cathedral itself. If desired, you can go for 7 euros on an elevator to the bell tower, from where you can see a stunning view of the beauty of Rome. In the church you can not only sit on a bench and admire the interior, but also quietly pray. Despite all this, the main advantage is that it is allowed to take photos of St. Peter's Square for free. Every minute, on the territory of the complex, someone makes a selfie next to the majestic sculptures and architectural structures. Also next to the square there are shops, restaurants and souvenir shops.

Interesting to know

The square of St. Peter's Cathedral is one of the three most demanded church ensembles on the planet.

In 2007, the archivists of the Vatican found the last work of Michelangelo, which depicts sketches of one of the columns of the complex.

The altar of the cathedral from the very beginning was turned not to the east, as is customary in Christianity, but to the west.