Italy - Vatican City

Seeing the Vatican was at the top of my list of things I wanted to do in Rome. Although it's not just St. Peter's Basilica that attracts visitors, the Vatican Museums are also a huge pull, and there is more art on display there than you have time to truly see in a day. 

If you know nothing about Vatican City, you probably are aware that it is the world's smallest country and is an enclave inside Rome. Also referred to as the "Holy See," the Vatican has a population of less than 1000 people and, according to the CIA World Factbook, takes up less space than the National Mall in Washington, D.C. As I pointed out in the Rome post, this is not actually where the Pope's cathedral rests. That's in St. John's Lateran. Lateran refers to a number of things, such as the Laterni family and the palace that used to be there, but in this context it refers to the Lateran Treaty, which created the papal enclave and allowed it to separate from the rest of Italy after Italian unification in the 1800s. For a long time the Pope considered himself a prisoner inside the walls of the Vatican until the Lateran Treaties set up Vatican City as a fully sovereign nation, still the world's smallest country in geographic area and in population. My own small town of Xenia, OH dwarfs it by comparison. Here's a good map of the Vatican so you can orient yourself.

Click here to view a larger version of this map.

Some tips for visiting the Vatican

Be sure to book ahead of time for the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel (which is actually an exhibit inside the museum) so you don't have to wait in the long line. It's a bit of a jungle at the Vatican!

One thing I did ahead of time (but unfortunately forgot to bring with me) was to download Rick Steves' audio tours of St. Peter's Basilica. You can also download his Sistine Chapel Tour and map ahead of time for the visit.

Rick has a number of audio tours that you can download for free for Italy (and Rome in particular) and other European destinations. I'd recommend downloading those ahead of time and printing off the maps or saving them as pictures on your phone. The map for St. Peter's is here. I also updated our Planning and Tips for Travel post on Italy to include links to other sites in Italy for which he's created audio tours in case you'd like to know how to find them. Be sure to watch the Rick Steves Europe video Rome: Baroque Brilliance, which highlights a number of the stops you can see so you can get an idea of what you want to be sure to see in person when you get there.

Vising the Vatican was a really cool experience, and I'm sure everyone has things they found special. It was especially neat being there only a year into Pope Francis' papacy. As the first Jesuit Pope (see more in my Rome post about this religious order or check out this informative piece from CNN on the impact of the Jesuits), Pope Francis has chosen to forgo many of traditional trappings of the office in favor of a more humble papacy and seems to have a keen understanding of the symbolic power of the choices he makes in how he carries out his papacy. A good video and story about his choice not to live in the papal apartments from CNN can be viewed here. One of the more interesting things about being in Rome was just how much people love Francis. You can't help but feel a little sorry for Pope Emeritus Benedict, as his predecessor John Paul II and the Francis clearly outshine him. You can easily find tons of vendors selling JPII and Pope Francis stuff everywhere, but Benedict souvenirs are a bit more difficult to come by.

Below are some pictures highlighting some of the things I personally thought were the most interesting about our visit.

View of the obelisk and St Peter's Basilica as we stand in line for St Peter's. The lines are long, and beware of pickpockets.

A panorama doesn't do it justice, but it's still a breathtaking view. I've been told the design of St. Peter's "square" (which is not square) was meant to represent the arms of the Church reaching out to the world to welcome you into its embrace. It kind of felt that way.

The basilica up close. Christ is in the middle, flanked by the twelve apostles along the roof.

Inside the basilica it's a tradition to touch the feet of St. Peter.

Bernini's Baroque Baldachin (or altar canopy). Much more brilliant in person.

A look up into the dome of St. Peter's, designed by Michelangelo.

Jesus flanked by his apostles. Through here was a cool stop you should see... Again, listen to Rick Steves' free audio tour while you're inside for all the things I'm not pointing out.

Michelangelo's Pieta.

St. Peter stands outside holding the keys of the Church. For more on Catholic theology regarding St. Peter, check out this reading.

A better view of the basilica and St. Peter.

Inside the Vatican Museums now. This is a map from the Galleria delle Carte Geografiche (Gallery of Maps).

A picture of Jesus... I'm not an art expert by any means, and I can't remember which gallery this was in. You'll have to visit yourself and get the audio tour. Many of the exhibits have numbers, and if you decide to purchase the audio tours when you get there, you'll see numbers next to many of the pieces of art where you can listen to more specific details about certain artifacts.

The Vatican has a huge collection of Egyptian art.

If you recall the purple marble I talked about earlier, you'll remember how heavy it was. This is Nero's bath, made completely out of that really expensive marble... I can't begin to imagine how heavy it is.

There are many amazing frescoes to see inside the Vatican. The Cappella Niccolina has quite a few.

View from the Borgia apartments.

The School of Athens Fresco is in the Stanze di Raffaello.

Closer view of Plato and Aristotle.

Who knew one of The Thinker sculptures was in the Modern Art exhibit?

Modern Art exhibit in the Borgia apartments was one of my favorites...

OK, part of the reason I liked it was because we like watching the often pseudo-historical show The Borgias on Netflix, so it was cool being in the Borgia apartments.

There was a whole room of modern art dedicated to sculptures of popes.

I thought this one was particularly interesting.

A work by Fernando Botero entitled "Trip to the Ecumenical Council" from 1972 in the modern art exhibit. This was one of my favorites for some reason...

I just liked it.

There's so much to see at the Vatican, these are just a few of the ones I really enjoyed. I hope your visit is as much fun as mine was!

Last post for this trip is Florence - check it out!