OBELISK AT ST. PETER'S SQUARE

This obelisk, like two others in Rome, is uninscribed, and no one knows where it originally came from or who created it. It is known that Emperor Augustus ordered it erected in the Julian Forum in Alexandria, where it stayed until A.D. 37. That year, the Emperor Caligula had it removed to the Vatican Circus in Rome. According to the Egyptologist Labib Habachi, "Legend has it that in the Vatican Circus innumerable Christians, including St. Peter, were put to death and that the reason this obelisk was not later overturned as were all the others in Rome was that it was looked upon as the last witness to the martyrdom of St. Peter."

In the 16th century, the Pope Sixtus V directed the obelisk to be re-erected in the collonnaded square before the Basilica of St. Peter, where it remains to this day. During its relocation, workers carefully inspected the metal globe that had stood atop the obelisk since Roman times. They were looking for the remains of Caesar, which were reputedly cached there, but they found only dust. After the successful re-erection, triumphant Romans carried the chief engineer, Domenico Fontana, on their shoulders all the way to his home.

Stats:

Location: St. Peter's Square, Vatican, Rome
Pharaoh: Unknown
Height: 83 feet
Weight: 331 tons