OBELISK AT PIAZZA DEL POPOLA

Seti I decorated three sides of this obelisk, while his son Ramses II carved the fourth and erected the obelisk in the sun temple at Heliopolis, a capital of ancient Egypt. In inscriptions on one side of the monolith, Seti I describes himself as "the one who fills Heliopolis with obelisks that their rays may illuminate the Temple of Re." Ramses II, one of history's greatest self-aggrandizers, styled himself as one who made "monuments as innumerable as the stars of heaven. His works join the sky. When Re shines, he rejoices because of [the obelisks] in his temple of millions of years."

In 10 B.C., the obelisk was re-erected at the Circus Maximus in Rome to celebrate Augustus' conquest of Egypt. Sometime later it toppled, to be resurrected in the 16th century under Pope Sixtus V. In 1589, it became the centerpiece of the Piazza del Popola in Rome, where three major avenues of the city converge.

Stats:

Location: Piazza del Popolo, Rome, Italy
Pharaoh: Seti I (reigned 1318-1304 B.C.)
Height: 75 feet
Weight: 263 tons