The dome carries with it tremendous iconographic significance. From ancient times the dome was a symbol of the heavens and thus of deity and eternity. This ancient symbol found its fulfillment in it's use in the Church ...

Looking down on the papal audience hall of Paul VI which was designed by Pier Luigi Nervi and completed in 1971. It is able to seat 8,000 persons.

The dome or cupulo seen from the apse shows the distortion of the dome when seen from an alternate perspective.

The gardens with the pinacoteca center top. With the casina di Pio IV and the pontifical academy of sciences upper center.

Its dome was perhaps the largest of its kind and the building would contain a perfect sphere, representing the cosmos and thus the home of all the gods.

The dome of San' Ignazio is quite convincing, especially in the dim light of the nave.

The semi-dome of the apse

As seen from the base of the Casina of Pius IV.

A close up of the summit of the obelisk reveals the insignia of the Bernini papacy, under which the obelisk was raised, with the cross surmounting all. Note the cross over the orb of the world, which also surmounts the ...