A piece of Egypt in Rome: the Lateran Obelisk

The historic center of Rome is a world to discover, indeed walking through the San Giovanni neighborhood, near the Colosseum, you can admire a piece of Egyptian art: the Lateran Obelisk, located in Saint John Lateran square (Italian: piazza San Giovanni in Laterano).
The obelisk is made up of red marble and is about 32,18 meters (105,6 feet), which makes it the tallest surviving ancient Egypt obelisk in the world.
In 15th century BC Pharaoh Tutmosis III commissioned it for the courtyard of Amun Temple in Karnak, a little village near Luxor. It remained unfinished for many years, until Tutmosis IV, the successive Pharaoh, completed the obelisk, decorating it with hieroglyphics which allow to relate it to Amon Ra, the Egyptian sun god.
In 4th century AD Emperor Constantinus tried to remove the obelisk and bring it to Constantinople, the new capital of Roman Empire, but he died suddenly, and his son Constantius II decided to transport the monument to Rome, erecting it in Circus Maximus.
During the Middle Ages the obelisk was forgotten, collapsing and it was found, broken in 3 pieces, only in 1587, when Pope Sixtus V ordered an excavation of the Circus Maximus area.
After being restored by architect Domenico Fontana, who created the marble pedestal decorating it with inscriptions about its history, in 1588 the obelisk was moved to its present site in Saint John Lateran square, which also houses the Cathedral church with the same name, the Lateran Palace (the old Papal residence) and the Baptistery.

Lateran obelisk

Lateran obelisk and its hieroglyphics



Saint John Lateran square view

Visualizzazione ingrandita della mappa