Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
whose bright, striped uniforms were designed by Michelangelo. It issues its own postage
stamps and sends its ambassadors to other nations' capitals.
The word Vatican comes from the Latin vates, meaning prophet. For the world's nearly
one billion Roman Catholics, Vatican City is a place of religious pilgrimage and veneration.
For travelers of other faiths, the city inspires awe and wonder evoked by its architecture,
its museums, and its role in western history.
For both pilgrims and secular travelers, the city's evocative center is St. Peter's Square
and the Basilica of St. Peter. Actually an ellipse, the square is one of the world's largest
and is enclosed by two encircling arms, a colonnade designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini,
with 284 Doric columns, each sixty-four feet high. Atop the colonnade are statues of 140
saints. Marking the center of the square is an obelisk, shipped from Egypt by the Emperor
Caligula for self-glorification. On either side of the obelisk are two fountains that can pro-
duce theatrical water displays several times a day.
The symbolism of the square works on several levels. Saints recall the martyrdom of
early Christians. Water signifies the rite of baptism. The cross atop the obelisk proclaims
the triumph of Christianity over paganism. And the encircling arms of the colonnade (actu-
ally a set of four colonnades) symbolically embrace all who enter. The square invokes the
power and the glory of the “universal church” and its more than one billion communicants.
The square is more than a dramatic setting for the Basilica of St. Peter. As visitors walk
into the square, the colonnade concentrates their gaze on the Basilica at the far end.
ST. PETER'S BASILICA
The Mother Church of Christendom is dedicated to the apostle who is believed to be
the first bishop of Rome and whose successor each Pope, as supreme head of the Ro-
man Catholic Church, feels himself to be. The history of St. Peters reflects the history
of the Papacy. [67]
From the central balcony of the portico, the senior member of the College of Cardinals pro-
claims the election of a new Pope. And from this balcony the Pope addresses the adoring
crowds in the square below and sends his blessings and proclamations to urbi et orbi —to
the city and the world. Five bronze doorways lead to the massive church interior: 610 feet
in length, rising to 390 feet directly beneath the dome.
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