St. Peter's Square, Vatican, Vatican City State

St. Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighbourhood or rione of Borgo.

At the centre of the square is an ancient Egyptian obelisk, erected at the current site in 1586. It was made of red granite and is 25.5 metres tall. The obelisk was originally erected at Heliopolis, Egypt, by an unknown pharaoh.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed the square almost 100 years later, including the massive Tuscan colonnades, four columns deep. A granite fountain constructed by Bernini in 1675 matches another fountain designed by Carlo Maderno in 1613.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Daniel D. Reimer (6 years ago)
Impressive Square to be in the Vatican and have a beer at the same time.

vali ciudin (6 years ago)
Superb

Tshepiso Ramaboa (6 years ago)
amazing

Fleire Castro (6 years ago)
Huge crowd during pope's events

Franco Schettino (6 years ago)
Stunningly beautiful

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Sigmaringen Castle

Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.

The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.

These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.

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