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Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano

Typology: Streets and squares

Address

Address: Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano
Zone: Rione Monti (Colosseo-S.Giovanni-S.Maria Maggiore) (Roma centro)

Scheduled events

Description

Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano is one of the most important squares of Rome. In the middle of it is the oldest and tallest obelisk of the city (31 m), made of red granite it was standing before the temple of Ammon, in Thebes of Egypt under the dynasty of the pharaohs Tutmes III and Tutmes IV, in the 15th century BC. It was then moved to Rome by Costance II (357) with a boat built for the purpose and placed in the Circus Maximus. It was only with Sixtus V that the obelisk was moved here. The square is overlooked by the Palazzo del Laterano, built on the spot of the old “Patriarchio”, residence of the popes since Constantine till the Avignon papacy. Opposite the Palazzo Laterano is the building of the Holy Stairs or Sancta Sanctorum, that Sixtus V commissioned to Domenico Fontana to protect the old private chapel of the popes (Sancta Sanctorum).

See also

Culture and leisure › Historic places of worship › Catholic Churches
Culture and leisure › Cultural heritage › Architectural and historical heritage
Culture and leisure › Cultural heritage › Archaeological heritage
Culture and leisure › Cultural heritage › Archaeological heritage
Culture and leisure › Cultural heritage › Architectural and historical heritage
Culture and leisure › Cultural heritage › Archaeological heritage
Culture and leisure › Cultural heritage › Architectural and historical heritage
Last checked: 2024-01-24 14:58