St. Peter's Square, Vatican City: Colonnade, Obelisk, What to See

In St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City, you see Bernini’s colonnade with 284 columns and 140 statues, the Egyptian obelisk in the center, the two fountains and, at the far end, the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica. The square is free, it is part of Vatican City, and it is where the Pope prays the Angelus on Sundays at noon and holds many of his major ceremonies. From here you enter the basilica, through the security check under the right-hand colonnade.

Who designed St. Peter’s Square?

Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed it, commissioned by Pope Alexander VII, in the mid-17th century. Before that, the space in front of the basilica was an irregular dirt esplanade, with a drop of about ten meters between the steps and the Borgo district.

Bernini first presented a design with arched porticoes, which in 1657 he replaced with the final one: colonnades with an architrave and no arches. The square has two parts:

• A trapezoidal square in front of the facade, whose longest side is the basilica itself. The shape corrects the perspective and visually shortens the distance to the facade.
• A large oval square with the obelisk at its center, embraced by the colonnades.

Bernini explained his idea with an image still in use today: the church of St. Peter, “almost the mother of all the others”, needed a portico that would receive the faithful “with open arms”. That is why the colonnade looks like two great arms.

He also planned a “third arm” of colonnade to close the square at the front, but it was never built: it was postponed for lack of money and the idea was lost after Alexander VII died.

How many columns does St. Peter’s Square have?

The four rows of the colonnade add up to 284 columns and 88 pilasters, crowned by 140 marble statues of saints, according to Wikipedia.

Fact	St. Peter’s Square
Architect	Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Pope	Alexander VII
Final design	1657
Columns	284, in four rows
Pilasters	88
Statues on the colonnade	140
Elevation	19 m above sea level
Fountains	Two, unveiled together in June 1677

Bernini chose the Doric order, plain and austere, so it would contrast with the Corinthian columns of the facade and make it look taller. Because the square is curved, the columns get thicker from the first row to the fourth to make up for the wider spacing between them.

The two fountains have their own history. The one on the right was rebuilt by Carlo Maderno in 1614 on top of an earlier one from 1490; the one on the left was added by Bernini, identical to the first, for symmetry. Both were unveiled in June 1677.

What is the obelisk in St. Peter’s Square?

It is an Egyptian obelisk of red granite, without hieroglyphs, 25.3 meters tall; with its base and cross it reaches almost 40 meters. According to Pliny, it comes from Heliopolis. The emperor Caligula brought it to Rome and set it up in the Circus of Nero, which occupied this area. According to tradition, St. Peter was crucified near it, and Wikipedia describes it as the only ancient obelisk in Rome that has never fallen.

Moving it to the center of the square was a feat. On the orders of Pope Sixtus V, the architect Domenico Fontana raised it on 10 September 1586, after four months of work, with nine hundred men, seventy-five horses and forty winches. It was the first obelisk raised in modern times. During the operation a sailor, Benedetto Bresca, shouted “Water on the ropes!” to stop them from snapping under the weight.

More things to look at:

• The base, with four bronze lions by Prospero Antichi.
• The inscription, which reads in English: “Behold the cross of the Lord. Flee, you adversaries. The lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered”.
• The ground: in 1817 the obelisk became a sundial. Around it are marble discs forming a compass rose and a meridian line, with the points of the solstices.

What happens in St. Peter’s Square: the Angelus and audiences?

The square is the stage for the Pope’s major celebrations. According to Wikipedia, it hosts the Mass for the start of a pontificate, the Palm Sunday Mass, the Easter Mass with the Urbi et Orbi blessing (which is also given at Christmas), canonizations and general audiences.

The two most common events for a visitor:

• The Sunday Angelus. The Pope prays it every Sunday at noon, usually from the window of his study in the Apostolic Palace, which overlooks the square. No ticket is needed. We explain it in how to see the Pope.
• The Wednesday general audience. It is held in the square or in the Paul VI Audience Hall, and tickets are always free: you request them from the Prefecture of the Papal Household. All the details are in the papal audience guide.

The current Pope is Leo XIV. His dates change every week, so check the Holy See’s official calendar before you go.

At Christmas a large tree is set up in the center of the square, a tradition that began in 1982, and demonstrations other than religious ones are banned in the square.

How do you get to St. Peter’s Square?

The square sits on the edge of Rome’s historic center, and you walk in through the Borgo district. The two main approaches are Via della Conciliazione, an avenue opened between 1936 and 1950 that leads straight into the square, and Via di Porta Angelica.

By public transport:

• Metro: line A, toward Battistini, to Ottaviano.
• Bus: lines 32, 81 and 982 stop at Piazza del Risorgimento.
• Tram: the 19, also at Piazza del Risorgimento.

Every route, from Termini and the airports, is in how to get to the Vatican.

The square has no entrance ticket. If you want to go into St. Peter’s Basilica, go through the Italian State Police security check under the right-hand colonnade: the basilica is open every day from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. until 28 March 2027 and is free. From inside you climb to St. Peter’s dome, with views over Vatican City and Rome, for 22 € with the elevator or 17 € by the stairs.

If you want to see it all with a guide, the St. Peter’s Basilica tour with the dome and grottoes costs from $33, rated 4.8 out of 5 in 6,363 reviews of this tour on GetYourGuide. And to fit the square in with the Museums and the Sistine Chapel, see the guide to visiting the Vatican and the Vatican Museums tickets.