SAINT PETER'S, Façade

There's a stone on the ground between the obelisk and the fountains that indicates the point where you can look at the colonnade and see a single row of columns instead of four.

The square welcomes you like a great stone embrace: its value is best expressed when it is crowded for masses celebrated by the Pope or for other liturgical moments, and is always a moving scene. The square reaches its highest level of tension during the "conclave", which is the solemn election of the popes. The cardinals are "locked" within the Sistine Chapel (which is why it's called a "conclave") and vote twice a day. As soon as all the votes are counted, the electoral cards are burned in a stove, whose smoke comes out of a chimney on the roof of the chapel. If the election didn't reach the required majority, wet straw is added so that the smoke becomes black; otherwise the smoke is white. The crowd in the square impatiently waits with their eyes on the chimney. After the election, the new pope appears at the balcony of blessings at the center of the basilica's façade, preceded by the traditional announcement: "Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: habemus papam!", which means "I announce to you a great joy: we have a pope!"

The huge square churchyard you stand in, just before the basilica, was designed by Bernini to make entering it even more spectacular. The great nineteenth-century statues you see on the sides depict Saints Peter and Paul: they are easily recognized because Peter has the keys and Paul has the sword....