In the annex of the Vatican walls there is a giant pine cone (called Fontana della Pigna or simply Pigna), which once served as a fountain in Roman times.
The object is almost four meters high. Once, water was coming out of its summit. A large pine cone stood next to the Pantheon and the Temple of Isis.
Then cone was an important symbol among Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Christians. Still, scientists are not able to clearly say what it was supposed to symbolize.
