Gian LorenzoBernini was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his age, credited with creating the Baroque style of sculpture. As one scholar has commented, "What Shakespeare is to drama, Bernini may be to sculpture: the first pan-European sculptor whose name is instantaneously identifiable with a particular manner and vision, and whose influence was inordinately powerful ..." In addition, he was a painter and a man of the theater: he wrote, directed and acted in plays, for which he designed stage sets and theatrical machinery. He produced designs as well for a wide variety of decorative art objects including lamps, tables, mirrors, and even coaches.
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, or simply Saint Peter's Basilica, is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal enclave that is within the city of Rome. It was initially planned by Pope Nicholas V and then Pope Julius II to replace the aging Old St. Peter's Basilica, which was built in the 4th century by Roman emperor Constantine the Great. Construction of the present basilica began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626.
The Circus of Nero or Circus of Caligula was a circus in ancient Rome, located mostly in the present-day Vatican City.
Borgo is the 14th rione of Rome, Italy. It is identified by the initials R. XIV and is included within Municipio I.
Carlo Fontana was an Italian architect originating from today's Canton Ticino, who was in part responsible for the classicizing direction taken by Late Baroque Roman architecture.
Piazza del Popolo is a large urban square in Rome. The name in modern Italian literally means "People's Square", but historically it derives from the poplars after which the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, in the northeast corner of the piazza, takes its name.
Via della Conciliazione is a street in the Rione of Borgo within Rome, Italy. Roughly 500 metres (1,600 ft) in length, it connects Saint Peter's Square to the Castel Sant'Angelo on the western bank of the Tiber River. The road was constructed between 1936 and 1950, and it is the primary access route to the Square. In addition to shops, it is bordered by a number of historical and religious buildings – including the Palazzo Torlonia, the Palazzo dei Penitenzieri and the Palazzo dei Convertendi, and the churches of Santa Maria in Traspontina and Santo Spirito in Sassia.
The Fountains of St. Peter's Square are two fountains in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, created by Carlo Maderno (1612–1614) and Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1667–1677) to ornament the square in front of St. Peter's Basilica. The older fountain, by Maderno, is on the north side of the square.
The Church of San Lorenzo in Piscibus is a 12th-century small church in the Borgo rione of Rome. It is located near Saint Peter's Square and Vatican City, but its façade is not visible from the main street, Via della Conciliazione.
Palazzo Cesi-Armellini, sometimes known plainly as Palazzo Cesi, is a late Renaissance building in Rome, important for historical and architectural reasons. The palace, which should not be confused with Palazzo Cesi-Gaddi, Palazzo Muti-Cesi, or the destroyed Palazzo Cesi, placed also in Borgo near the southern Colonnade of St. Peter's square, is one of the few Renaissance buildings of the rione Borgo to have survived the destruction of the central part of the neighborhood due to the 20th century construction of Via della Conciliazione, the avenue leading to St. Peter's Basilica. Today, it is owned by the Society of the Divine Savior and part of it is used as their motherhouse.
Palazzo dei Convertendi is a reconstructed Renaissance palace in Rome. It originally faced the Piazza Scossacavalli, but was demolished and rebuilt along the north side of Via della Conciliazione, the wide avenue constructed between 1936 and 1950, which links St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican City to the centre of Rome. The palace is famous as the last home of the painter Raphael, who died there in 1520.
Palazzo Alicorni is a reconstructed Renaissance building in Rome, important for historical and architectural reasons. The palace, originally lying only a few meters away from Bernini's Colonnades in St. Peter's square, was demolished in 1930 in the wake of the process of the border definition of the newly established Vatican City state, and rebuilt some hundred meters to the east. According to the stylistic analysis, his designer had been identified as Giovanni Mangone, a Lombard architect active in Rome during the 16th century.
The Palazzo Rusticucci-Accoramboni is a reconstructed late Renaissance palace in Rome. Erected by the will of Cardinal Girolamo Rusticucci, it was designed by Domenico Fontana and Carlo Maderno joining together several buildings already existing. Due to that, the building was not considered a good example of architecture. Originally lying along the north side of the Borgo Nuovo street, after 1667 the building faced the north side of the large new square located west of the new Saint Peter's Square, designed in those years by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The square, named Piazza Rusticucci after the palace, was demolished in 1937–40 because of the erection of the new Via della Conciliazione. In 1940 the palace was dismantled and rebuilt with a different footprint along the north side of the new avenue, constructed between 1936 and 1950, which links St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican City to the center of Rome.
The Meta Romuli was a pyramid built in ancient Rome that is important for historical, religious and architectural reasons. By the 16th century, it was almost completely demolished.
In Ancient Rome, the Ager Vaticanus was the alluvial plain on the right (west) bank of the Tiber. It was also called Ripa Veientana or Ripa Etrusca, indicating the Etruscan dominion during the archaic period. It was located between the Janiculum, the Vatican Hill, and Monte Mario, down to the Aventine Hill and up to the confluence of the Cremera creek.
Borgo Nuovo, originally known as via Alessandrina, also named via Recta or via Pontificum, was a road in the city of Rome, Italy, important for historical and architectural reasons. Built by Pope Alexander VI Borgia for the holy year of 1500, the road became one of the main centers of the high Renaissance in Rome. Borgo Nuovo was demolished together with the surrounding quarter in 1936–37 due to the construction of Via della Conciliazione.
Borgo Vecchio, also named in the Middle Ages Via Sancta, Carriera Sancta or Carriera Martyrum was a road in the city of Rome, Italy, important for historical and architectural reasons. The road was destroyed together with the adjacent quartier in 1936–37 due to the construction of Via della Conciliazione.
Piazza Scossacavalli, also named Piazza di San Clemente, Piazza di Trento, Piazza d'Aragona, Piazza Salviati, was a square in Rome, Italy, important for historical and architectonic reasons. The square was demolished together with the surrounding quarter in 1937 due to the construction of Via della Conciliazione.
Borgo Santo Spirito is a street in Rome, Italy, important for historical and artistic reasons. From a historical point of view, it is considered the most interesting street in the Borgo district. Of medieval origin, it is linked to the foundation of the ancient fortified hospice for pilgrims from England, the Burgus Saxonum. The street houses the oldest Roman hospital, the Arcispedale di Santo Spirito in Saxia, which gave it its name. Heavily altered during the works for the opening of Via della Conciliazione, it nevertheless avoided the fate of the two parallel streets of Borgo Nuovo and Borgo Vecchio, both destroyed.
