View Page: St. Peter's Piazza
University of Washington Honors Program in Rome


St. Peter's Piazza
written by minhan / 09.22.2005
Section Five 5 of 7

  Conclusion
 
 
www.stpetersbasilica.com
View of St. Peter's Piazza from the basilica
Visitors may visit the basilica daily and there are special tours down to the necropolis and Tomb of St. Peter’s. Mass is held Sunday 7, 8, 9, and 10 AM. Papal audiences are held on Wednesday at 10 or 11 AM in the new audience Hall or in the Piazza. Applications are needed to attend all these functions. (may just add this as a caption of a picture)
 
St. Peter’s Piazza represents even more of the heart of the Catholic Church than ever before. More than 300,000 people have been known to congregate in the piazza. Every Sunday, the pope gives his blessings and at Easter and other special days, the pope extends his blessing urbi et orbi, which means “to the city and to the world”. The approach today has changed from the original plan of Bernini. The narrow streets with two rows of houses of Bernini’s time were demolished by Mussolini in 1936 and replaced with a boulevard called Via della Consiliazione that stretches across the Tiber River to the center of Rome. This change was not what Bernini had planned because it took away the narrowed curvy path which helped contribute to the revelation the visitor experienced upon arrival to the piazza. However, today from the Via della Consiliazione, many visitors approach the square, Saint Peter’s and the Vatican as a whole and are still able to experience the breathtaking view of what lies ahead of them and experience the uplifting feeling that Bernini’s original goal entailed.

For 54 years, Bernini worked in some way or another with St. Peter’s basilica and the surrounding area. Throughout his work, he always thought about how everything worked and accentuated the other in terms of the meaningful spiritual pilgrimage of the faithful visitors. His goal in creating the historical, uplifting atmosphere and feelings that was induced in visitors when they stepped into the piazza still remains today as many come from across the world to visit one of the most inspirational work.
 
   
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