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Ager Vaticanus: Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica
The Vatican Museums' collections are now housed in the Palaces where Popes,
from the 1400s on, used to live, dine, keep their dens and private
libraries, study late into the night, and entertain. The Palaces are not
unified architecturally; they are the product of hundreds of years of
changing tastes and styles, and a reflection of unfolding needs and
concerns. After meeting up, our first stop in the Museums is the "Cortile
della Pigna" or Courtyard of the Pinecone.
We then head towards a marvelous ancient Greek and Roman sculpture gallery,
started by the general and patron pope Julius II in the early 1500s.
Many visitors will instantly recognize Laocoon, Trojan
high priest, as he is strangled with his two sons. This ancient sculpture
is just one of many moving or delightful pieces the Vatican has to offer.
Moving on to other splendidly decorated rooms and hallways, we can pit-stop
in Raphael's rooms (if time and energy allow). We finish off the Museums
with a visit to the spellbinding Sistine Chapel.
Sensory overload will compel us to take a deep breath before plunging into
the largest church in the world, Saint Peter's Basilica. Here we learn about the
two-fold history of the Basilica, now home to Michelangelo's Pieta'.
Tickets to the Vatican Museums are € 12; entrance to the Basilica is
free of charge.
The Museums' summer hours are from 8:45 to 4:30; their winter hours are
from 8:45 to 1:30
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