It is the largest square in Rome - measuring 240 metres wide and 340 metres long. The gigantic elliptical shape is delineated by 184 columns and 88 pillars crowned by the statues of more than 150 Saints – all Bernini’s work.
The two fountains in granite are wonderful, the one by Carlo Maderno and the other by Carlo Fontana. The imposing Egyptian obelisk, later mounted by a cross, stands erect at the centre of the square.
Between the fountains and the obelisk are inserted stone slab circles which mark the observation points from which the colonnade itself appears to be formed of only a single line of columns instead of the actual four which make up its embracing arms.
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