Flaminio Obelisk

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Flaminio Obelisk in Piazza del Popolo. In the background, the churches of Santa Maria in Montesanto and Santa Maria dei Miracoli

The Flaminio Obelisk (Italian: Obelisco Flaminio) is one of the thirteen ancient obelisks in Rome, Italy. It is located in the Piazza del Popolo.

It is 24 m (67 ft) high and with the base and the cross reaches 36.50 m (100 ft).

History

It was built during the kingdom of Pharaohs Ramesses II and Merneptah (13th century BC) and placed in the Temple of Sun in Heliopolis; it was brought to Rome in 10 BC by command of Augustus, together with the Obelisk of Montecitorio, and placed on the spina of the Circus Maximus, followed three centuries later by the Lateran Obelisk.

The obelisk was discovered in 1587, broken into three pieces, together with the Lateran Obelisk; and it was erected in the Piazza del Popolo by Domenico Fontana in 1589, at the command Pope Sixtus V.

In 1823 Giuseppe Valadier embellished it with a base having four circular basins and stone lions, imitating the Egyptian style.

Bibliography

• Armin Wirsching, Obelisken transportieren und aufrichten in Aegypten und in Rom, Norderstedt 2007 (2nd ed. 2010), ISBN 978-3-8334-8513-8
• L'Italia. Roma (guida rossa), Touring Club Italiano, Milano 2004
• Cesare D'Onofrio, Gli obelischi di Roma, Bulzoni, 1967