Italy

Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City

St. Peter’s Square

St. Peter’s square stands outside St. Peter’s Basillica in the Vatican City (the Papal enclave in Rome). In 500 AD Rome was sacked and burned by the Huns and Visigoths who dealt the Western Empire its final blow. The Papacy then surged to power with Pope Leo I (440-441) and Pope Gregory playing leading roles in bringing Rome to greatness. After Pope Boniface VIII (1300s) Popes became so powerful that they crowned Emperors, Kings and Feudal princes. They also became patrons of the arts. The Renaissance flourished in Rome and Pope Julius II (1503-1513) started building St Peter’s Basilica and commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Sistene Chapel. Gian Lorenzo Bernini redesigned the piazza in front of the Basilica from 1656 to 1667 with a view to giving the greatest number of people a view of the Pope. An Egyptian obelisk precedes Bernini’s work and stands in the center of the square. It is about 4400 years old and was originally from Heliopolis, Egypt. Tuscan Collonades frame the piazza. This picture is taken from the Basillica and St. Peter’s square is regarded as a magnificent example of Baroque Theatre.

Pantheon, Rome

Built in 118 AD by Emperor Hadrian (the same guy that built Hadrian’s Wall in the north of England), much of it still exists intact today. The columns weigh 60 tons each and were transported from Egypt to Rome on barges. The temple was built to honor Pagan gods (the name is derived from the Ancient Greek: referring to all gods) and exists on the site of a former temple (built 27 BC) dedicated to the gods Mars and Venus. In 609 it was converted to a Church. The consecration of the building as a Church saved it from the destruction that befell most Ancient buildings during the Medieval period.