Vatican obelisk, Ancient Egyptian monument in St Peter's Square, Vatican City

The Vatican obelisk is an ancient Egyptian monument made of red granite standing at the center of St Peter's Square in Vatican City. The structure rests on a base with bronze lions and reaches approximately 40 meters (130 feet) in height with the cross at its top.

The obelisk is of Egyptian origin, without hieroglyphs, and by Pliny's account came from Heliopolis; it stood at the Forum Iulii in Alexandria before Caligula shipped it to Rome in 40 AD and set it on the spine of Nero's Circus. It stayed there after the circus fell into disuse. In 1586 Sixtus V had it moved 260 meters to St. Peter's Square, the first of Rome's ancient obelisks raised in modern times, under Domenico Fontana with thirteen months of preparation.

The bronze cross on top carries the inscription "Ecce Crux Domini, fugite partes adversae, vicit Leo de Tribu Iuda". Sixtus V granted a perpetual indulgence of ten years and as many quarantines to those who recite the Lord's Prayer and Hail Mary before it. A relic was placed in the cross on 12 April 1740, taken from a reliquary of St. Peter's Basilica.

The obelisk stands at the centre of St Peter's Square, on the axis between the basilica facade and Via della Conciliazione, so it is reached on foot from the square's open ends. Its base carries four bronze lions by Prospero Antichi and inscriptions on the pedestal; the bronze mounts near the bottom are best examined up close. The square is open ground with no steps at the monument itself.

During the relocation in 1586, 900 men and 75 horses worked under strict orders to remain silent until a sailor named Bresca prevented collapse by shouting to wet the ropes with water. The obelisk remained standing at its original site longer than any other ancient Roman obelisk, never having fallen down.