Created by Bernini between 1656 and 1667 under Pope Alexander VII (1655-1667), it is composed of two parts: a first trapezoidal space, delimited by the two closed and converging rectilinear arms that flank the churchyard, and a second elliptical space , between the two hemicycles of the quadruple colonnade, because, as Bernini himself had to say, “being the church of San Pietro almost all of the others had to have a portico that precisely showed to receive with open arms the maternity Catholics to confirm them in the belief, the Heretics to gather them in the Church and the Infidels to enlighten them in the true faith “.
In 1950, with the opening of Via della Conciliazione, a new, broad access road to the Vatican Basilica was built, which enhances the majestic view of the dome of St. Peter’s, but which profoundly altered the original Bernini project. The square measures are extraordinary: it is 320 meters deep with a central diameter of 240 meters and is surrounded by 4 rows of 284 columns and 88 pillars. The balustrade above the columns is crowned by 140 statues of Saints, 3.20 meters high, built around 1670 by Bernini’s pupils. At the sides of the obelisk, moved to the center of the square by Domenico Fontana in 1585, the two great fountains of Bernini (1675) and Maderno (1614). Below, at the foot of the steps, the statues of St. Peter and St. Paul seem to welcome the faithful.i fedeli.
