Obelisco Lateranense (monument)
You’re standing with the Obelisco Lateranense—better known in Latin as the *Obeliscus Constantii*—and it’s the giant in its category: it’s the largest standing ancient Egyptian obelisk in the world, and also the tallest obelisk in Italy. Its story starts in Karnak, where it was made around 1400 BC during the reigns of Thutmose III and Thutmose IV. In the early 4th century AD, Roman Emperor Constantine I had it moved to Alexandria, and then Constantius II ordered it shipped to Rome in AD 357—where it was erected at the Circus Maximus. After the circus was abandoned in the 5th century, the obelisk collapsed, broke into pieces, and was buried. When it came back to the light, Domenico Fontana restored it in the late 1580s, and Pope Sixtus V had a Christian cross placed on top for its current spot near the Lateran complex. …
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