Have you heard of the Pope’s Audience Hall? Also known as the Paul VI Audience Hall or the Hall of the Pontifical Audiences, it lies partially in Vatican City and partially in Rome, Italy. Named after Pope Paul VI and built in 1971 by Italian architect Pier Luigi Nervi, it seats 6,300 and contains a bronze statue called La Resurrezione, designed by Pericle Fazzini, within.
This all sounds pretty straightforward so far, but let’s dive into what makes this building so strange. We’ll start with the less weird, and get progressively weirder as we go.
Building Method and Design
The building was designed with reinforced concrete by well-known architect Pier Luigi Nervi. Nervi is known for simple yet practical designs that are strong and made to last.
The simple curvature of the building might seem unassuming from the outside, but this is part one of what we will begin to explore about this building, and I promise you, by the time we get to the end, you will see what I’m getting at.
Have a look at the image below and compare its shape to the image of a snake beside it. Note the overall shape — wide back, narrow, rounded front, eyes in the middle, nostril at the front, and curved top.
Windows
As you can already begin to see in the image above, there are two windows on either side of the building that resemble eyes. They are made of stained glass and sit about halfway through the building’s length on either side.
In the centre of the eye shape, you begin to see a slit that could resemble a reptile eye. If you’re not convinced yet, which is understandable, keep reading.
Maybe looking at one window on its own isn’t the most clear, so let’s have a look at both of them together now.
All of a sudden we begin to see things taking shape here — two reptilian eyes, staring at you as you observe the stage.
Scales and Fangs
Have a look again at the image above — what do you notice down the centre? There stands what looks to be a statue in the middle and then on either side, two sharp, pointed fangs. The building’s roof and sides also resemble scales.
Here is another angle to give you a sense of the scales.
Now let’s pull it together a bit more so we can really see what we are looking at. In the image below, really pay attention to the whole building and stage layout next to the image of a snake. The eyes, the shape, the scales, the fangs, the look and feel of the reptile… it’s all there.
The La Resurrezione Statue
In the middle of the stage sits a statue of Christ rising from an atomic apocalypse. It was designed by Pericle Fazzini and put in place by 1977. Have a look at it below. Do you notice anything about Jesus’ head?
It’s difficult to see from the front, but when you view the statue from the sides, where patrons would sit, it becomes strikingly clear from both sides that the head of Jesus is meant to look like that of a snake. 
Think about it for a moment: If just one side of the statue gave the impression of a snake’s head, we could brush this off as coincidence, but when it looks this way from all angles, and the entire building resembles a snake as well, it becomes much more difficult to ignore. One must begin to realize that this was purposefully designed to appear this way. The thought and planning that went into this would have to have been immense.
The reality is, there is an obvious reason for this imagery.
The Big Question
You may be asking what that reason is; why was this building built in such a way that the Pope appears to be speaking from the mouth of a reptile? If you aren’t asking that question, you’re simply turning a blind eye. It’s not that the evidence isn’t present, it’s that you are choosing not to see it. There are seven separate pieces that comprise the snake or reptile symbol. If it were one or two I would understand your skepticism — even three. But when seven pieces come together so beautifully, so perfectly, you know beyond any shadow of a doubt that it was intentional.
Oblivious to the world, the Catholic church has built the biggest pagan institution that seeks to unite all the worlds peoples in their religions just as the Tower of Babel was attempted.
Discussion about this post