Square · Vatican City · Still standing

Saint Peter's Square

Piazza San Pietro

St. Peter's Square is the large forecourt directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, laid out by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the 17th century. Its composition unites a trapezoidal approach and a vast ovato tondo embraced by sweeping Tuscan colonnades, with a tall Egyptian obelisk and two matching fountains at the centre.

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Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

Its prime

1676

Today

Still standing

As it stood in 1676

What Saint Peter's Square looked like in its prime.

A vast paved expanse formed of a trapezoidal forecourt leading into a large oval (ovato tondo) marked by radiating travertine lines; at the oval’s centre rises a red-granite Egyptian obelisk on a bronze base, flanked by two symmetrical stone fountains. Two monumental, four-columns-deep Tuscan colonnades form embracing semicircles topped by a continuous entablature and a row of marble saints, while behind them the broad travertine steps and Maderno façade of the basilica close the composition.

Step inside

10 places to explore in 1676.

The record describes 10 distinct spots at Saint Peter's Square, including 2 interiors: under the colonnade: covered portico walk, entrance to the braccio di costantino and the scala regia corridor. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more photos, more angles and more of the immersive experience.

Approach along the Via della Conciliazione toward the trapezoidal entrancePiazza Rusticucci (vestibule) immediately before the squareTrapezoidal forecourt at the foot of the basilica stepsCentral obelisk in the ovato tondoMaderno's fountain (north)Bernini's matching fountain (south)Exterior face of the north colonnade and emicircleUnder the colonnade: covered portico walkBalustrade and row of statues atop the basilica façade (roofline viewpoint)Entrance to the Braccio di Costantino and the Scala Regia corridor

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