Piazza San Pietro or St. Peter's Square is located in
Vatican City, at the feet of St. Peter's
Basilica. Designed by Bernini during the
seventeenth century, the dimensions of
the square are 320 meters long and 240 meters wide. In the liturgies and
more noticeable events, it can hold
over 300,000 people. The construction of
the square was carried out with the support of Pope Alexander XII.
The most impressive part of the square, besides its size, are its
284 columns and
88 pilasters that flank the square in a
colonnade of four rows. Above the columns there are 140 statues of
saints created in 1670 by the disciples of Bernini. In the centre of the
square, the obelisk and the two fountains, one of Bernini and another of
Maderno stand out. The obelisk, which is 25 meters in height, was
carried to Rome from Egypt in 1586.