Museums of Vatican City
It was another sunny morning as we made our way to the influential little city. St. Peter's Square was crowded with people so rather than wait in long line ups, we chose to join one of the tour groups which promised to get us past the long lines and directly into the museums. Our guide was a young man with a good deal of local knowledge and a sense of humour. He informed us that if you stopped to look at each piece in the museum for 10 seconds, it would take 12 years to see everything. Well, we didn't have quite that much time so took in what we could over the next couple of hours.
Every room offers beautiful sculptures, artwork, tapestries, artifacts and paintings. Walls and ceilings are covered in masterpieces. I would recommend it to anyone travelling to the area. Go early and plan to spend the day as each piece is deserving of taking the time to enjoy. We ended our visit through the museums with the Sistine Chapel, famous for the artistic genius of Michelangelo.
From here, we went to visit St. Peter's Basilica, the burial site of Saint Peter. While it was a beautiful church with fantastic sculptures and artwork, I was disappointed when I didn't feel a spiritual connection like I thought I would. I found it to be just like going to another museum - there was far too much attention on the popes and not enough attention on Jesus Christ. Having once been a follower of the Catholic religion, as a child, I suppose I had built it up in my mind. I was a little disappointed not being able to "feel" the presence of God as I have in many other places.
It was another sunny morning as we made our way to the influential little city. St. Peter's Square was crowded with people so rather than wait in long line ups, we chose to join one of the tour groups which promised to get us past the long lines and directly into the museums. Our guide was a young man with a good deal of local knowledge and a sense of humour. He informed us that if you stopped to look at each piece in the museum for 10 seconds, it would take 12 years to see everything. Well, we didn't have quite that much time so took in what we could over the next couple of hours.
Every room offers beautiful sculptures, artwork, tapestries, artifacts and paintings. Walls and ceilings are covered in masterpieces. I would recommend it to anyone travelling to the area. Go early and plan to spend the day as each piece is deserving of taking the time to enjoy. We ended our visit through the museums with the Sistine Chapel, famous for the artistic genius of Michelangelo.
From here, we went to visit St. Peter's Basilica, the burial site of Saint Peter. While it was a beautiful church with fantastic sculptures and artwork, I was disappointed when I didn't feel a spiritual connection like I thought I would. I found it to be just like going to another museum - there was far too much attention on the popes and not enough attention on Jesus Christ. Having once been a follower of the Catholic religion, as a child, I suppose I had built it up in my mind. I was a little disappointed not being able to "feel" the presence of God as I have in many other places.
Statues:
Sarcophagus:
Tapestries:
Paintings:
St.Peter's Basilica: