St Peters Square Rome, Roma Italy Virtual tour

click on a thumbnail to open fullscreen QTVR

St. Peter's Square

Italy > Roma

This is the large public square outside Saint Peter's Basilica, which is considered the greatest church on Earth. The square is actually round, with the perimeter marked by two huge colonnades. At the center of the square is an Egyptian obelisk brought to Rome by Caligula in 38 from the town of Heliopolis, on the Nile Delta. It was part of Nero's Circus where Saint Peter was crucified, and where construction on Saint Peter's began in 324. Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi