Located right in front of St. Peter’s Bascilica is St. Peter’s Square (Piazza St. Pietro in Italian). Designed by Gia Lorenzo Bernini, the square mixes Baroque with Classical styles to give the viewer a truly dazzling spectacle. The basilica is built on the foundations of a paleo-Christian Church, which is believed to be built over the tomb of the Martyred Apostle Peter. If one goes even farther back the in history the site was known as Nero’s Circus, which hosted many of the carnal events that served as entertainment in ancient Rome. The square itself is surrounded by two Doric colonnades, which are the “wall like” structures around the edges of the space. These frame the trapezoidal entrance to the basilica, as well as accentuate the massive oval area in front of the St. Peter's Basilica.

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In fact no better examples of ancient Doric colonnades exist in the known world, with most having fallen into ruin long ago. The colonnade has 88 piers and 284 pillars, and is surmounted by the statues of 162 saints. In the center of the square is an Egyptian obelisk that is older than the Basilica, the church it replaced, and maybe even older than Rome. The obelisk, which dates back to 13th century B.C., was moved to Rome in the first century to stand at the center of Nero’s Circus. Pope Sixtus V moved the obelisk to its current resting place in 1585, and its shape was designed into the Piazza so that it served as a center piece. Bernini added a fountain at its base in 1675, which keeps it out of reach of the thousands of hands that might wear away its surfaces every year.

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