Landmarks · Rome
St. Peter's Square
Bernini's stone embrace — 284 columns that vanish into one.
Admission and address
- Address
- Piazza San Pietro
- Admission
- The square itself is free, unticketed and open at every hour, which is why no timetable is listed here; the doors that do keep hours belong to the basilica and the museums, which are separate stops. Nothing needs booking to stand in it. On Wednesday mornings the papal audience takes over the square, seating fills the centre and the security lines roughly double; at midday on Sunday the Angelus does the same for about half an hour. Both are free to attend, though the audience needs a free ticket obtained in advance. Security screening to enter the colonnade applies whenever the basilica is open, so allow for it even if you only mean to cross the square and look.
- Category
- Landmarks
- Official website
- vatican.va
- Coordinates
41.90224, 12.45736
Where it is
Walk it with the guide
St. Peter's Square is one of 19 stops on Rome Essentials. The guide adds the story behind it, the detail worth crossing the square for, and the tip that only someone who has stood here would write down.
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Nearby on the same walk
- St. Peter's BasilicaFree
The world's largest church by interior area, free to enter, with its rivals measured out on the floor.
- Vatican MuseumsTicketed
Seven kilometres of galleries, one ceiling, and the statue that started it all in 1506.
- Castel Sant'AngeloTicketed
Hadrian's tomb turned papal fortress, with an angel on the roof.
- Piazza NavonaFree
A Baroque square that is secretly Domitian's running track.