ââ¬Å½The heart of world Christianity, ââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½St. Peter`s Squareââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½ owes its characteristic elliptical shape to the imposing colonnade by ââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½Gian Lorenzo Berniniââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½ which, commissioned by Pope ââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½Alexander VII Chigiââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½, consists ofââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½ 284 columnsââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½ arranged radially in four rows.ââ¬Å½nââ¬Å½Eleven years of work 1656-1667, more than 40 thousand cubic meters of travertine transported from Tivoli by land or pulled by horses along the banks of the river: with its colonnaded arcades, the ââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½most famous square in the worldââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½ symbolizes the universal embrace of the Church, to the faithful but also to ââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½the `heretics and the Infidels to enlighten them to the true faith`.ââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½ In designing the colonnade, ââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½Gian Lorenzo Berniniââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½ played with ââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½optical illusionsââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½, obtaining a ââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½scenographic and spectacular resultââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½. Those who cross the square see the columns gather and distance themselves, with a feeling of movement and alternation between full and empty spaces. Looking at the colonnade from the center of the square, at the point indicated by one of the two marble discs on the pavement that mark the fires of the ellipse, it seems to us composed ââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½of a single row of columnsââ¬Å½Ã¢â¬Å½: the outer ones disappear behind those of the inner row.
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