Vatican Obelisk from St. Peter’s Square – 4000 years old
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Year | 1835 BC |
Type | Egyptian Obelisk |
Getting there | Car, plane, train |
Made by | According to some documents it was constructed during the time of King Nuncores of Egypt |
Where | Heliopolis, Egypt |
When to visit |
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Tickets |
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Location in Rome | Vatican, Rome, Italy, Europe |
Vatican Obelisk – pink granite
- Vatican Obelisk in St. Peter’s Square is an Egyptian Obelisk that is almost 4000 years old
- Vatican obelisk is made from pink granite
- There is placed in the center of the square.
- It was hewn from a single block and stands 25.31 m. high on a base 8.25 m. wide.
- The obelisk was built by the Pharaoh Mencares in 1835 BC in Heliopolis, Egypt, in honor of the sun.
- It was brought to Rome in 37 AD by Emperor Caligula (37-41)
- It originally stood in his circus, later named circus of Gaius and Nero, on a spot to the south of the basilica, close to the present Sacristy.
- It was a silent witness of the martyrdom of St. Peter and of many other Christians.
- It is the second-highest obelisk in Rome, after the Lateran one, and the only one without hieroglyphics, but with Latin inscriptions.
Vatican Obelisk – A Sundial
- It is also a sundial, its shadows mark noon over the signs of the zodiac in the white marble disks in the paving of the square.
- For pagans, the obelisk was a solar symbol that represented a vital flow between heaven and earth, a way of communicating to the divine.
- As a pagan monument in the greatest Christian square, it is a symbol of humanity reaching out to Christ. Originally inscribed to “Divine Augustus” and “Divine Tiberius” and now dedicated to the Holy Cross – “Christus Vincit, Christus Regnat, Christus Imperat. Christus ab omni malo plebem suam defendat.” It is topped by a bronze cross containing a fragment of the true Cross.
During the Middle Ages, a metal globe was at the top of the obelisk. It was believed to contain the ashes of Julius Caesar
Source: www.wikipedia.org, http://stpetersbasilica.info
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