Editing St. Peter's Basilica (section)

==St. Peter's Piazza==
{{Main|St. Peter's Square}}
<!-- -NOTE:This section uses the well-known Italian word "piazza" because the English translation to "square" is a misnomer.- -->
[[File:Basilica di San Pietro (notte).jpg|thumb|left|St. Peter's Basilica and the piazza at night|alt=Behind a large monolithic obelisk, the facade of St. Peter's Basilica, lit by floodlights, rising majestically against the night sky]]

To the east of the basilica is the ''Piazza di San Pietro'', ([[Saint Peter's Square|St. Peter's Square]]). The present arrangement, constructed between 1656 and 1667, is the [[Baroque]] inspiration of Bernini who inherited a location already occupied by an Egyptian [[obelisk]] which was centrally placed, (with some contrivance) to Maderno's facade.{{NoteTag|The obelisk was originally erected at Heliopolis by an unknown pharaoh of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt ({{Circa|2494 BC}} – 2345 BC).}} The [[obelisk]], known as "The Witness", at {{convert|25.31|m|ft}} and a total height, including base and the cross on top, of {{convert|40|m|ft}}, is the second largest standing obelisk, and the only one to remain standing since its removal from Egypt and re-erection at the [[Circus of Nero]] in 37&nbsp;AD, where it is thought to have stood witness to the [[crucifixion]] of Saint Peter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/Exterior/Obelisk/Obelisk.htm |title=St. Peter's, the Obelisk |website=saintpetersbasilica.org |access-date=22 December 2010 |archive-date=5 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705231011/http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/Exterior/Obelisk/Obelisk.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Its removal to its present location by order of [[Pope Sixtus V]] and engineered by [[Domenico Fontana]] on 28 September 1586, was an operation fraught with difficulties and nearly ended in disaster when the ropes holding the obelisk began to smoke from the friction. Fortunately this problem was noticed by Benedetto Bresca, a sailor of [[Sanremo]], and for his swift intervention, his town was granted the privilege of providing the palms that are used at the basilica each [[Palm Sunday]].<ref name=JL-M/>

[[File:Fountain of Carlo Maderno night.jpg|thumb|One of the two fountains which form the axis of the piazza|alt=View of one fountain which rises in two tiers from a sculptured pool. The fountain is playing and the water is sparkling.]]
The other object in the old square with which Bernini had to contend was a large [[fountain]] designed by Maderno in 1613 and set to one side of the obelisk, making a line parallel with the facade. Bernini's plan uses this horizontal axis as a major feature of his unique, spatially dynamic and highly symbolic design. The most obvious solutions were either a rectangular piazza of vast proportions so that the obelisk stood centrally and the fountain (and a matching companion) could be included, or a trapezoid piazza which fanned out from the facade of the basilica like that in front of the [[Palazzo Pubblico]] in [[Siena]]. The problems of the square plan are that the necessary width to include the fountain would entail the demolition of numerous buildings, including some of the Vatican, and would minimize the effect of the facade. The [[trapezoid]] plan, on the other hand, would maximize the apparent width of the facade, which was already perceived as a fault of the design.<ref name=Gardner/>

[[File:Vatican_City_and_St._Peter_Square_evening_twilight_aerial_view.jpg|thumb|left|Evening aerial view of the piazza and facade]]
Bernini's ingenious solution was to create a piazza in two sections. That part which is nearest the basilica is trapezoid, but rather than fanning out from the facade, it narrows. This gives the effect of countering the visual perspective. It means that from the second part of the piazza, the building looks nearer than it is, the breadth of the facade is minimized and its height appears greater in proportion to its width. The second section of the piazza is a huge elliptical circus which gently slopes downwards to the obelisk at its centre. The two distinct areas are framed by a colonnade formed by doubled pairs of columns supporting an [[entablature]] of the simple [[Tuscan order|Tuscan Order]].

The part of the colonnade that is around the ellipse does not entirely encircle it, but reaches out in two arcs, symbolic of the arms of "the Catholic Church reaching out to welcome its communicants".<ref name=Gardner/>  The obelisk and Maderno's fountain mark the widest axis of the ellipse. Bernini balanced the scheme with another fountain in 1675. The approach to the square used to be through a jumble of old buildings, which added an element of surprise to the vista that opened up upon passing through the colonnade. Nowadays a long wide street, the [[Via della Conciliazione]], built by [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]] after the conclusion of the [[Lateran Treaties]], leads from the [[Tiber|River Tiber]] to the [[Town square|piazza]] and gives distant views of St. Peter's as the visitor approaches, with the basilica acting as a [[terminating vista]].<ref name=JL-M/>

Bernini's transformation of the site is entirely Baroque in concept. Where Bramante and Michelangelo conceived a building that stood in "self-sufficient isolation", Bernini made the whole complex "expansively relate to its environment".<ref name=Gardner/> Banister Fletcher says "No other city has afforded such a wide-swept approach to its cathedral church, no other architect could have conceived a design of greater nobility&nbsp;... (it is) the greatest of all atriums before the greatest of all churches of Christendom."<ref name=BF/>
[[File:St Peter's Square, Vatican City - April 2007.jpg|upright=2.25|thumb|centre|View of Rome from the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica|alt=At the front of the view are the backs of thirteen large statues that stand in along the edge of the façade. Beyond them can be seen the piazza which is in three parts. The nearest appears square, while the second widens into an oval surrounded on each side by the huge grey columns on the colonnade, and with the obelisk at its centre. Beyond that is a further square surrounded by pale pink buildings. A wide street leads from the square, at the end of which can be seen the river, a bridge and castle.]]