Egyptian Obelisks in Rome

I wasn't obelisk hunting, but you can't walk around Rome without running into a few. The first one we ran into was the one standing in Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano (turns out it's the tallest). I think the second was in St. Peter's Square. I think I shot at least five.

*

The city of Rome harbours the most obelisks in the world. There are eight ancient Egyptian and five ancient Roman obelisks in Rome, together with a number of more modern obelisks; there was also until 2005 an ancient Ethiopian obelisk in Rome.

The Romans used special heavy cargo carriers called obelisk ships to transport the monuments down the Nile to Alexandria and from there across the Mediterranean Sea to Rome. On site, large Roman cranes were employed to erect the monoliths.

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