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Fountain and st. Peters Cathedral
The fountain on the northern side was the first one to be built by Carlo Maderno during the pontificate of Paulus V. Some of the small pillars still show the eagle of the Borghese. The southern side fountain was added by Bernini (who also modified the fountain by Maderno) and completed during the pontificate of Clemens X.St Peter's Square
Directly to the east of the church is St Peter's Square (Piazza di San Pietro), built by Gian Lorenzo Bernini between 1656 and 1667. It is surrounded by an elliptical colonnade with two pairs of Doric columns which form its breadth, each bearing Ionic entablatures.
In the center of the colonnade is a 25.5 metre (83.6 feet) tall obelisk. The oblisk was actually brought to Rome by Caligula (~37AD) and erected in the 'Circus of Caligula'. The Circus was improved by Nero during his reign (54-68AD) and became commonly know as the 'Circus Gai et Neronis' basically the 'Circus of Caligula and Nero'. The obelisk was moved to its present location in 1585 by order of Pope Sixtus V. The obelisk dates back to the 13th century BC in Egypt, and was moved to Rome in the 1st century to stand in Nero's Circus some 250 metres (820 ft) away. Including the cross on top and its base, the obelisk reaches 40 metres (131 ft). The Vatican obelisk is notable for being the second largest standing obelisk and the only one that remained standing since it was erected during the Roman Empire. On top of the obelisk there used to be a large bronze globe allegedly containing the ashes of Julius Caesar. The original bronze globe was removed when the obelisk was re-erected in St Peter's Square by Domenico Fontana. There are also two fountains in the square, the north one by Maderno (1613) and the southern one by Bernini (1675).
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