It was designed so that as many people as possible could see the Pope giving his blessing, either from the center of the church façade or from a window in the Vatican Palace. It is in the shape of a perpendicular oval, which on the west side, with a trapezoid-shed section, is open to St. Peter’s Basilica, and on the east side faces Via della Conciliazione.
The piazza is surrounded by Bernini’s portico - a four-row colonnade topped by an attic, on which statues of 140 saints are placed (among them is a statue of St. Jacek Odrowąż, a Dominican). In the middle of the square is an ancient Egyptian obelisk from the 13th century BC (one of 13 in Rome), which has been erected in its present location since 1586. It was originally set up in Nero’s circus in honor of Julius Caesar (for this reason, the obelisk was commonly called “Julia”). Tradition says that the obelisk witnessed the martyrdom of St. Peter.
There are two symmetrically located fountains in the square, and on the left side, between the basilica and the colonnade, is the Pantry Gate (one of the three gates by which one can enter the Vatican) guarded by the Swiss Guard.
According to the Lateran Treaty, the area of St. Peter’s Square is under the authority of the Italian police for crowd control, even though it is part of the Vatican City State.
