Carlitos Lunghi Site

              About the obelisk  that is  in  St. Peter square  in  the  Vatican, of  25,37
                 meters, and 15 meters with the base, and 331 tons, which does not have
                 jeroglifics, no one known  who  was  pharaoh, of  the  V  kingdom,  that
                 construct it.
                 The obelisk of St.Peter  and the  obelisk of Esquiline and Quirinal are all
                 uninscribed.
                 Was   raised  firstly by  the  Emperor  August  in  the  Julian  Forum   of
                 Alexandria, where it was until year 37, year in which Caligula ordered the
                 forum demolished and the obelisk transferred to Rome, to place it  in  the
                 center of the Neron Circus, on the foot of Vatican Mount  and  dedicated
                 to the Sun and his predecessors August and Tiberius, as the inscription of
                 the pedestal.
                 The Egyptology Labib Jabachi, write,that in the Neron Circus innumerable
                 Christians, including St.Peter they found the death and that  is  the  reason
                 for which it is even there  in  memory  of  the  martyrdom of St.Peter and
                 others.
                 In 1586 Pope Sixto V, decided  to  place it as  opposed  to  the  Basilic  of
                 St.Peter.
                 The work  was  ordered  to  Domenico  Fontana  (1543-1607) the famous
                 Italian arquitect who constructed the Vatican Library and it´s  documented
                 in numerous fresh of the Vatican Library, demanded to raise it 150 horses,
                 900 men and 47 poleas, his method of raising the obelisk is described in his
                 work "Del modo tenuto nel transportare l´obelisco Vaticano,e delle fabriche
                 fatte da nostro Signore  Sisto V,   Rome, 1589", the  story that, when the o
                 obelisk was raised the silence was broken  by a  sailor named Bresca, from
                 San Remo, who shouted "acqua alle funi", and that save the obelisk, eighty
                 years  late  Bernini  design  the  St.Peter  square with the eliptic columnate,
                 around the obelisk.
                 It is one of the interesting and high obelisk in Rome, the legend say that the
                 bronze globe of the top had the ashes  of Julius Cesar,  during  recolocation
                 the  workers  inspected  the  metal  globe  that was  in the  stop, not finding
                 anything.
                 Pope Sixto V, removed the globe replacing it by a cross and bronze crest of
                 the Chigi Family (an star on small ones mount).
                 In 1818 four Egyptian lions were added to the base.

TM & © 1996-2003 carliar