Rome, Italy

JUNE 2005 – View across the Piazza di San Pietro from the Basilica San Pietro in Rome, Italy, towards east. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com

---

The story behind the image

The saying goes: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” – In this case, we wanted to do as the tourists do. We climbed up to the Basilica San Pietro, one of the key attractions in Rome, along with the Piazza di San Pietro right in front of it. When you are entering the Piazza, you are already on the grounds of the fully independent Vatican City! The Piazza was built from 1656 to 1667 by Bernini who was quite active in Rome. This is regarded as his masterpiece. Today the place can take up to 60,000 believers.

This is the view towards East across the Piazza and the Via della Conciliazione with the Castel Sant’ Angelo and the Ponte Sant’ Angelo at its end. Of course, this image is not rare by any means, but it clearly is the most beautiful view of Rome that you can encounter, and I guess that everybody takes a photo from this position. And you will do so, too. 🙂

At least I can correctly say that for this 1/125 sec. I was the only person on the planet who captured this view. 🙂

By the way, I also captured an upright image from this viewpoint (see below). It’s also impressive for sure. But if I had to pick one, I would not hesitate for a split second second – it’s clearly the one above. I like it so much, because (to me) the oval colonnades resemble protecting hands with the focus on the column in the very center of the Piazza. Then again, the upright image highlights the seven statues on the top of the main entrance.

Whatever. It’s an awesome location.

---

The high resolution image

Capture Date	June 2005
Location	Rome, Italy
Camera	Canon AE-1 Program
Image Source	Fuji Slide Film
Digital Image Source	EPSON Perfection 4870 Photo
Digital Image Source Format	TIFF, 48 bits/pixel, sRGB
Edited Image Format	JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB
Edited Image Dimensions	5535 x 4067 Pixels
Copyright	© by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com