A day like today: Obelisk of St. Peter's Square

The obelisk, erected in different parts of the world, are a sign of pride and power and anthropologists claim to see in this architectural figure a phallic symbolism.

The most famous obelisks are in Washington, Paris, Buenos Aires and St. Peter's Square in the Vatican; This particular obelisk has a great history: The obelisk of St. Peter was initially in Alexandria, the Egyptian city and it was Emperor Caligula who decided to take him to Rome to place him in the circus of Nero.

And the obelisk was in the circus of Nero, until in 1586, Pope Sixtus V decided to change it to St. Peter's Square; but the operation was extremely dangerous, and for that purpose, the Pope ordered the participation of more than one thousand men and one hundred horses; and to avoid distractions and mistakes, Pope Sixtus V announced that he would apply the death penalty to those who pronounce a word in the middle of the delicate erection of the obelisk.

The papal warning was clear: no one could say anything, or he would pay with his life; but there was a time when the effort of beasts and men seemed useless and close to a colossal tragedy. The pulleys creaked and the ropes began to burst slowly, one after the other, in the midst of terror and collective silence. When the catastrophe was imminent, a sailor named Preska challenged the threat of the Pope and shouted: "Wet the ropes", in the middle of the general pass, some ran for water, wet the ropes, and they reached the necessary resistance. Then the obelisk finally, slowly and with everyone's effort, reached its current seat.

It was a day like today, September 10, 1586. That obelisk is really a tribute to human beings who, without fear of threats and dangers, dare to raise their voices.