Fontana della Pigna
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The Fontana della Pigna or simply Pigna is a former Roman fountain which now decorates a vast niche in the wall of the Vatican facing the Cortile della Pigna, located in Vatican City, in Rome, Italy.
Fontana della Pigna (1st century AD)
The pinecone, shown within the niche
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
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.
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