St. Peter's Square

One of the biggest and most stunning squares in the entire globe is St. Peter's Square. Between 1656 and 1667, Bernini planned out the St. Peter's Square in front of St. Peter's Basilica to create a location for pilgrims from throughout the world to congregate. It still does an excellent job of fulfilling that function and is completely packed on Easter Sunday and other significant days.

The huge oval space is 372 meters long and is surrounded by semicircular colonnades at either end. A railing with 140 saint sculptures adorns the top of the colonnades. A 25.5-meter Egyptian obelisk that was transported from Heliopolis and placed in the center of the oval by Caligula in AD 39 is surrounded by fountains on either side. Since the monument weighs 350 tons, moving it here in 1586 was no easy task.

Yet, the basilica's facade is what draws attention because it is from its central balcony that the Pope gives blessings and announces beatifications and canonizations. The senior cardinal of the College of Cardinals also announces the name of the new Pope chosen by the conclave from this location. The Via della Conciliazione, a lengthy boulevard that starts in the Castel Sant'Angelo, is the most picturesque route one take to go to St. Peter's Square.

Address: Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Vatican City Italy

Phone: unknown

Opening hours: unknown

Rating: 4.5/5.0, 8919 Tripadvisor reviews

Website: https://www.vaticanstate.va/it/monumenti/basilica-di-san-pietro/la-piazza.html