In front of the church Santa Maria sopra Minerva, there is one of the most curious monuments of Rome, the so-called Pulcino della Minerva - Minerva's Chicken. It is a statue designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini of an elephant as the supporting base for the Egyptian obelisk. It is the shortest of the eleven Egyptian obelisks in Rome. The height of the obelisk is 12.69 meters including the top decoration, the statue, the pedestal and the 4-step basement. It is said to have been one of two obelisks moved from Sais, where they were built during the reign of the pharaoh Apries, from the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. The two obelisks were brought to Rome by Diocletian to be placed at the Temple of Isis which stood nearby. The Dominican run Santa Maria Sopra Minerva is known as Rome's only gothic church. Santa Caterina di Siena died here and his body is buried under the altar. Sangallo designed the tombs of the Popes, Leo X and Clement VII (who belonged to the Medici family), with the two large marble statues which face each other across the apse whilst the statue of Jesus carrying the cross was made by Michelangelo. It was in the Dominican Convent attached to the church that Galileo's trial by the Inquisition took place.
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