 Piazza San Pietro The Piazza San Pietro, which was commissioned by Pope Alexander VII (r. 1655-67), is one of the most beautiful spaces in Rome. It was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) and built between 1656 and 1667. The piazza is made up of two distinct parts. The first part is an oval space (196 m by 148 m), which is bordered by two semi-circular colonnades, made up of a total of 284 columns. The second part, intended to link the basilica to the oval, is a trapezium flanked by two arms. The 140 statues of saints and martyrs, which crown the colonnades, were sculpted to Bernini’s designs by his large team of assistants.  Aerial view of St Peter's Basilica and St Peter's Square  Aerial view of St Peter's Basilica and St Peter's Square  Colonnade of St Peter's Square  Statues on the south colonnade  Coat of arms of Pope Alexander VIl Comments are closed.
|
My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England.
Since 200I I have been living in Italy, where I run private tours of Florence, Rome & Venice. Search Pictures From Italy:
Blog Posts
January 2020
|