Circus of Nero
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The Circus of Nero or Circus of Caligula was a circus in ancient Rome, located mostly in the present-day Vatican City.
Drawing of the Circus of Nero (Pietro Santi Bartoli, 1699)
Old St. Peter's Basilica
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Old St. Peter's Basilica consisted of the church buildings that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, where St. Peter's Basilica stands today in Vatican City. Construction of the basilica, built over
Circus of Nero
…the second century AD, when the area was partitioned and given in concession to private individuals for the construction of tombs in the necropolis. Old St. Peter's Basilica was erected by Constantine over the site using some of the existing structure of the Circus of Nero. The basilica was sited so that its apse was centred…
19th-century drawing of St. Peter's Basilica as it is thought to have looked around 1450. The Vatican obelisk is on the left, still standing on the spot where it was erected on the orders of the Emperor Caligula in 37 AD.
Fontana della Pigna (1st ct. AD), which stood in the courtyard of Old St. Peter's
Pairs of the original Solomonic columns now support pediments to form trompe-l'œil porticoes
Bronze statue of Saint Peter by Arnolfo di Cambio, dating to the 13th century