The Vatican Obelisk is an ancient Egyptian obelisk that stands today in St. Peter's Square in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The monolith, made of rose granite, is 25.31 m tall and is the second largest in Rome when measured without its base. It weighs 320 tons and is the only one that is not inscribed with hieroglyphs.
Typically, obelisks stood in pairs in front of temples and tombs in Egypt, but the Vatican Obelisk has always been a solitary one with no twin.
The origin of the obelisk is disputed; while some believe it came from Heliopolis and was brought to Rome, others agree that it originated from Alexandria. This mystery may never be solved, and although Géza Alföldy discusses and explores the various hypotheses in his work: “The Obelisk in St. Peter's Square in Rome. A Historical Monument of Antiquity,” it remains merely a conjecture.
Source: Wikipedia.org
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Address: Roma, Vatican City
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