According to reports, Saint Peter’s Square was much narrower centuries ago, before Bernini created the present arrangement with the huge colonnades. The old square portico at the front of the basilica extended almost as far as the obelisk. The area was used for bullfights during the beginning of 16th century. It is said that the Spaniard, Borgia Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503), introduced bullfights to Rome which took place all over the city.

The Fountain at Saint Peter’s Square was also known as Pope Innocent’s Fountain. According to Buckard, a well-known 15th/16th century writer, the fountain was quite new. In 1490, Innocent VII built a most noble fountain at the end of the Saint Peter’s Square. This fountain was with decorated marble tablet and two small round basins, one above the other. According to a diarist, everyone thought there is nothing of its kind anywhere else in Italy. The exact position of this fountain can be pinpointed thanks to a plan of the square made about two centuries later, during the massive reorganization. At that time, in order to line up the fountain with the obelisk and the other fountain planned for the opposite side of the square, Bernini moved the old fountain a few yards closer to the basilica 1613. According to the initial plan, the fountain had to follow the horizontal axis of the square and the solutions were that the piazza was made rectangular and the obelisk stood centrally, or the piazza was made trapezoid. If the plans were to be executed, the fountain would cause the demolition of many buildings or maximize the obvious width of the facade, which was already perceived as an error of the design.