Rick says in his guidebook that the Latin quotes from the Bible written around the ceiling in St Peter's Basilica, each letter is 7 FEET in height. Is that really true?
Posted by
Madison, WI, USA
534 posts
It would appear to be. I can't say we got a tape measure out to test it, but my husband and I did climb up to that area and they are big. I read that particular factoid while looking at them and still couldn't take it in.
Posted by
The Hague, NL (AMS)
2207 posts
TRUE!
Often they wil bring a crane in to clean areas.. and when they are "dusting" the lettering, it's amazing to see a person next to these letters!
Currently the Vatican XMAS tree is being decorated (tradition since 1982)and will be lit on December 12 this year. The life-size nativity scene now being constructed in St. Peter's square will be unveiled on Christmas Eve.
Ciao,
Ron
Posted by
Seattle, WA
1317 posts
If you climb up the dome and pause at the top of the church, you are more or less at eye-level with the letters. I can't tell if they really are 7 feet (though I believe Ron and Michael), but they are definitely BIG! You get a real sense of scale when you look down at the floor and people look to be about the size of ants.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
His guidebook also says that the wingspan of the descending dove in the window behind the altar is equal to a 747. But then he admits he's joking about that. But, yeah, those letters are 7 feet tall.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
8058 posts
I have to admit that I had been in St Peters a couple of times, admired the interior and the inside of the dome, but had never been up into the dome. On this last trip, we did, and paused at the overlook, still below the dome, and was amazed at how high we were. You really can not appreciate the immensity of St Peters any other way.