Piazza San Pietro: Wind Rose

Private Tours of the Vatican Museums

Wind rose marker

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The ancient obelisk in St Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro) stands at the centre of a large wind rose (rosa dei venti), which was added in the middle of the 19th century when Pope Pius IX (r. 1846-78) also installed the four wrought-iron street lamps, with their seven-branched candelabras, and the circle of 68 short granite posts. The posts were erected to create a traffic-free space in what was rapidly becoming a very congested piazza. 

The wind rose takes the form of 16 white elliptical markers, which use the compass points to show the different wind directions. The eight winds are the: Tramontana (north), Greco (north-east), Levante (east), Scirocco (south-east), Ostro (south), Libeccio (south-west), Ponente (west), Maestro (north-west). 

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