Rome - back to February; end of trip to Rome - the Vatican
I said I'd finish the Rome trip so I will do that now. So far in Rome we visited Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, did a HoHo bus, a VIP visit to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill.
On our last full day, Wednesday, we spent the morning at the market in Campo De' Fioro, stopped at the the Piazza Navona and then the grand finale trip to the Vatican museums, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. My one regret is that we didn't leave time in the day to climb the Copula of St. Peter's -- we'll do that on our next visit for sure.
The Vatican Museums: Founded by Pope Julius II in the 6th century, the Vatican Museums inside the Vatican City boast some of the world’s most important relics. Attractions of the museums include the spiral staircase, the Raphael Rooms and the exquisitely decorated Sistine Chapel. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted the chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. Today the ceiling, and especially The Last Judgment, are widely believed to be Michelangelo’s crowning achievements in painting.
So here we are - the final stop - the Vatican museums. My first recommendation is to use a guide! We did and it was such a benefit. It wasn't that there were massive lines to skip, which I'm told is a big benefit in the summer, but that this place was so massive ... without a guide we wouldn't have known where to even begin, nor would we have known what to look for.
I can't describe all that we saw as it would take a guide and a guide book but will, for the most part, let the pictures speak for themselves.
First, a beautiful day for February:
As we walked along the hallway, there was just so much art all around us -- it was hard to comprehend and take it all in.
Sure, why not? ... a hall way full of tapestries:
And beautifully decorated ceilings that go on and on and on...
And rooms with so much art all around... you could spend a full day in many of these rooms - seriously!
There are no photos allowed inside the Sistine Chapel. We had about 15 minutes to sit and reflect and enjoy the beautiful artwork. Then on to St. Peter's Basilica:
The center of the Catholic world and a major tourist attraction, the Basilica of St. Peter is a huge church: with an interior height of 120m, the space shuttle, together with its booster rockets, could fit inside, as could the Statue of Liberty. The basilica stands on the traditional site where Peter, the apostle who is considered the first pope, was crucified and buried. Construction on the current building began in 1506 and was completed in 1615. Many famous artists worked on the complex and its surroundings: Michelangelo designed the dome while Bernini designed the great St. Peter’s Square.
This place was impressive! Jack even liked it more than the Colosseum, which totally surprised me.
There was a mass going on while we were there but it was in Latin, so we didn't even pretend to be good Catholic visitors as we wouldn't have understood a word, so we enjoyed it from a distance versus sitting in the pews.
On every wall, in every nook and cranny, there are sculptures and paintings and statues that are amazing. Here is an example of one, which no one paid any special attention to because there was so much to overwhelm the senses!
It was raining quite hard as we left, so we took our time, strolled around the area, and got some nice night time shots:
On our way back to our hotel and to dinner, I bribed Jack with McDonald's if he would let us walk versus take a cab. With much pleading, it worked. We passed the Castel Sant'Angelo on the way, but Jack had had enough tourism for one day, so this is one site we skipped, but it was beautiful lit up at night:
Castel Sant’Angelo began life as the mausoleum of the Emperor Hadrian, built between 135 and 139 AD. Subsequent strongholds built on top of the mausoleum were in turn incorporated into a residence and castle by medieval Popes. The building was used as a prison until 1870, but now houses a museum. Among the most well-known tourist attractions in Rome, film buffs will recognize it as a setting from “Angels and Demons”.
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