Historic city squares, old towns and villages in Vatican City State
St. Peter's Square
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, Egy ...
Founded: 1656-1667 |
Location:
Vatican, Vatican City State
Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Photo from Flickr, copyright Riccardo Ravelli
Historic Site of the week
Redipuglia World War I Memorial
Redipuglia is the largest Italian Military Sacrarium. It rises up on the western front of the Monte Sei Busi, which, in the First World War was bitterly fought after because, although it was not very high, from its summit it allowed an ample range of access from the West to the first steps of the Karstic table area.
The monumental staircase on which the remains of one hundred thousand fallen soldiers are lined up and which has at its base the monolith of the Duke of Aosta, who was the commanding officer of the third Brigade, and gives an image of a military grouping in the field of a Great Unity with its Commanding Officer at the front. The mortal remains of 100,187 fallen soldiers lie here, 39,857 of them identified and 60,330 unknown.