St Peter's
colonnades
in major restoration project 
(ANSA) - Vatican City, June 11
The famous 17th-century
colonnades in St Peter's Square are to be spruced
up in a major restoration
project, the Vatican said Thursday.
The restoration of the semi-circular
colonnades, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini to stretch out from
the basilica like two arms embracing the faithful, is slated
to take three and a half years. Renato Boccardo, secretary-general
of the Vatican's governing commission, said the work would take
in the entire square - ''the 284 columns, 140 statues of the
saints
and 20,000 square metres of marble''. The cost of the project,
estimated at between 10-20 million euros, will be footed entirely
by private sponsors, Boccardo said.
''The advertising posters
(during the restoration project) will be very discreet,''
Boccardo stressed,
''and every single sponsor will be screened and discussed because
they must respect this holy place, the symbol of the Catholic
church's great embrace of all humanity''. Italian power
giant ENEL and telecommunications
company Wind are the first sponsors of the restoration, the preliminary
work for which has been underway for several months with a pilot
building site at the far end of the left colonnade.
Workers will
use the latest technology to try not to block the piazza during
the restoration, installing a gantry on the colonnade cover that
will be invisible from the ground. Vatican Museums Director Antonio
Paolucci told Vatican daily Osservatore Romano earlier this month
that work will include controlling rainwater flow, removing older
restorations, eliminating sulphur deposits and giving the columns
protective treatment. Paolucci recalled that Pope Alexander VII
approved Bernini's project in 1657 because he wanted a covered
route uniting the basilica and the city and a setting suitable
for great public ceremonies.
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