Rome, From St. Peter's

(3 photos)
Prior to the mid-1930s a labyrinth of narrow streets and picturesque houses filled the space between Piazza San Pietro and Hadrian's Tomb. To celebrate the signing of the Lateran Treaty in 1929, Mussolini demolished the neighborhood, at that time called Borgo, and created Via Conciliazione as a spectacular entrance to the Vatican. Raphael’s studio, which had survived four hundred years, was among the historical buildings lost by this reconstruction. The street name Conciliazione, translates to “Settlement” in English, and it sure looks something like the English word “Conciliation.” That would certainly fit the signing of a treaty.

Looking east from St. Peter’s, the round structure, just before the river is the Castel S. Angelo (Hadrian's Tomb), an imposing monument on the right bank of the Tiber. It was originally constructed (130 AD) as a mausoleum for the Emperor Hadrian, later served as a papal stronghold, and was once connected to the Vatican by a secret underground passageway.

Further away, out of sight at the right edge of the photo, or perhaps just out of the photo, is the Spanish Steps.
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Looking southeast from St. Peter’s, the twin-towered building in the distance is the ostentatious immensity of the marble monument to Victor Emmanuel II. The dome to the left, without a spire on the tip, is the Pantheon.
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Here is another view of Rome from the tip of St. Peter’s. There are so many domes in Rome, that I can not pick out the Pantheon in this photo. Most of the church domes, including St. Peter's, have a spire at the top, but the Pantheon does not.

The tower and the building to the right of the memorial to Victor Emmanuel II is the Rome City Hall, in the Piazza del Campidoglio, partly designed by Michelangelo. In the distance beyond City Hall is the Roman Forum and the Colosseum, to far away to be seen in this photo.