|
 In
1929, the Lateran Treaty between Pope Pius XI and the Italian
government created the Vatican, the world's second-smallest
sovereign independent state. It has only a few hundred citizens and
is protected (theoretically) by its own militia, the curiously
uniformed (some say by Michelangelo) Swiss guards.
The only entrance to the Vatican for the casual visitor is through
one of the glories of the Western world: Bernini's St. Peter's
Square (Piazza San Pietro). As you stand in the huge piazza, you'll
be in the arms of an ellipse partly enclosed by a majestic Doric-pillared
colonnade. Atop it stands a gesticulating crowd of some 140 saints.
Straight ahead is the facade of St. Peter's Basilica (Sts. Peter and
Paul are represented by statues in front, with Peter carrying the
keys to the kingdom), and, to the right, above the colonnade, are
the dark brown buildings of the papal apartments and the Vatican
Museums. In the center of the square is an Egyptian obelisk, brought
from the ancient city of Heliopolis on the Nile delta. Flanking the
obelisk are two 17th-century fountains. The one on the right (facing
the basilica), by Carlo Maderno, who designed the facade of St.
Peter's, was placed here by Bernini himself; the other is by Carlo
Fontana.
Separating the Vatican from the secular world on the north and west
are 58 acres of lush gardens filled with winding paths, brilliantly
colored flowers, groves of massive oaks, and ancient fountains and
pools. In the midst of this pastoral setting is a small summer house,
Villa Pia, built for Pope Pius IV in 1560 by Pirro Ligorio. The
gardens contain medieval fortifications from the 9th century to the
present. Water spouts profusely from a variety of fountains. |
