Pilgrimage to St. Peter's

Today, our group of twenty-one attractive and brilliant honors students embarked on their epic pilgrimage to San Pietro (St. Peter’s), located in the heart of Vatican City. About half of the group had never been to this great church, including yours truly, and we positively fizzled with excitement. St. Peter’s has the largest basilica in the world, and attracts thousands of pilgrims each and every day. St. Peter is considered the father of the Catholic Church, the first pope.

As usual, we met Lisa in front of the Rome Center promptly at 9 o’clock in the morning. Our smiling faces greeted the sun as we anticipated our last group-journey to the Vatican. Lisa led the way, taking us on a route similar to the one taken by ancient pilgrims making their way to the Holy City. Although, the pilgrims of old didn’t have to contend with such aggressive traffic (aka scooters). We walked across the Ponte San Angelo (brief stop here so Melissa could give a short introduction to her site), then we made another quick stop for a group picture with a fabulous view of the basilica in the background. We continued down the Via della Concilialzione, and then completed our journey with our entrance into Bernini’s magnificent Piazza San Pietro.

FIG 1 - Group picture in front of St. Peters,
about to embark on the final leg of our journey.

Try to imagine how this journey was hundreds of years ago, before Mussolini built a massive road that led right up to a square. You would make your way up a tiny street, unable to see any monuments in front of you, and then suddenly you would emerge into a wide open space, with St. Peter’s rising high above you. Even being here now is awe-inspiring. Had I been a pilgrim traveling immense distances just to get to this place, I think I might have had a mild panic attack at the sight.

Once we were standing comfortably in the middle of St. Peter’s Square, we listened to Susie, Scott, and Melissa give their family presentation on the Chigi family (pronounced key – g). The Chigi can claim Pope Alexander VII, originally Fabio Chigi, as their own. The Chigi coat of arms prominently adorns the piazza, as it was completed under the papacy of Alexander VII.

FIG 2 - Susie puts on her glasses in prepartion for
the Chigi family presentation.

After the Chigi presentation, Melissa enlightened the group on the history and topography of the square. Gian Lorenzo Bernini is the mastermind behind the awe-inspiring square, which is partly enclosed by two semicircle colonnades. Originally there was supposed to be a third semicircle, entirely enclosing the square, but it was never added. Each colonnade has a quadruple row of columns, forming three covered walkways. There are a total of 284 columns, and 88 pilasters. 96 statues of saints and martyrs adorn the top of the colonnades. Bernini, the master of optical illusion, used architectural techniques to make the piazza appear bigger that it actually is in order to increase feelings of awe and inspiration. Melissa rewarded three lucky students with candy when they answered one of her questions correctly.

FIG 3 - Melissa gives her presentation on the square, and Henry
waits to complete his presentation on the obelisk.

Henry gave a brief aside on the obelisk in the center of the piazza. The obelisk is originally from Alexandria, and is thought to have been set up by Caligula in the Circus of Nero. In 1586, Pope Sixtus V commissioned the engineer Domenico Fontana to remove the obelisk from the circus, and erect it in the middle of the square, an impression feat considering the obelisk is about 85 feet high and weighs about five hundred tons. The task required 900 men, 150 horses, and 47 cranes.

Next, Anyie led us inside St. Peters to present on Bernini’s contribution to the décor of the great basilica. He was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII to build a baldacchino underneath Michelangelo's dome. It was unveiled on the 28th of June in 1633. The structure is a combination of baroque architecture and sculpture. The massive sculpture is cast in bronze taken from the Pantheon (the Romans recyced everything they could). Four gilt-bronze columns rise from marble plinths and support a canopy with tassels that look like they are flapping in the wind (still made of bronze). The baldacchino stands about one hundred feet high. Bernini also designed the Cathedra of St. Peter (Chair of St. Peter), which encloses an ancient wooden chair said to have been the episcopal chair of St. Peter.

Also inside St. Peter’s is Michelangelo’s Pieta, which was difficult to get to through the crowds of people with cameras, intent only on trying to get the perfect picture. Lisa said she has never seen St. Peter’s as crowded as it was today. You also have to view the sculpture from a distance since it was put behind a barrier when it was attacked a few years ago.

After Anyie’s presentation, the group was set free to explore the basilica and surrounding sights. We could climb to the top of the dome, or go down to the crypt where many of the past popes are buried. Or to the gift shop to pick up some mementos and post cards. Also, attached to the gift shop is the post office. To mail postcards from the Vatican, you must have a Vatican stamp. If you use a Roma stamp your postcards will not be mailed.

We reconvened at 1:30 to attend our third to last Italian class of the program. Hard to believe our last day, and our Italian final, is only one week away exactly. After Italian we all went our separate ways to study (of course), and to enjoy our last few days with the beautiful city that is Rome. Sigh.