Vatican City: a country of its own

The first full day in Rome greeted us with rain and cloudy skies. Luckily, we had scheduled a tour of Vatican City for that day, which just happens to be an inside activity. The only downside of the day was that we had to move our tour up because of an ordination being held at St. Peter's Basilica. We were informed by our tour guide that you pretty much never know what's on the agenda in Vatican City, so you may be in for an unforeseen closing or something.

View of St. Peter's Basilica

Vatican City is amazing. The sheer opulence and magnificence of it all greets you from the moment you arrive in it's vicinity. This was probably my favorite thing that we did. The whole thing just intrigues me; specifically how much the Vatican symbolizes power and dominance (I say this as a non-Catholic)…it's just a little crazy to me.

We hired a private tour guide for the day, which I would highly recommend. We started in the Vatican Museum which is full of all kinds of art and historical artifacts, some of which were bought by various popes, some of which were commissioned and others that were gifted. When you think about this museum you should think of the likes of The Louvre and The Met. 

Globe sculpture in museum courtyard

The Vatican has more Red Porphyry that anywhere else in the world. It is a rare stone from Egypt and is the most valuable stone in the world no longer available for mining, which is a little crazy. I had never heard of this stone before, but it is all over Vatican City and is sprinkled throughout Rome. Additionally, the museum boasts many sculptures, paintings and tapestries. One of my favorite rooms we saw was the room with maps drawn as murals on the walls. Unfortunately, we had to kind of rush through the museum due to the closing of St. Peter's Basilica.

Red porphyry bathtub

Tapestry

Mural map of Italy

From the museum you enter the Sistine Chapel, which is breathtaking. The intricate detail and stories displayed on the ceiling and walls is really just a lot to take in. It is supposed to be a silent place, but it tends to not be so much. I would post a picture of it, but you are not allowed to take photos. Here's a random fact for you: it's not that you can't take photos because it's a sacred space, but because when they restored the Chapel a few years ago a Japanese media company funded the whole thing and now has the copyrights to it. So, no pictures. Weird, right?

From the Sistine Chapel you then enter into St. Peter's Basilica. It enormous to say the least. St. Peter's is actually open to the public and, barring any random events, anyone can go in. Since we entered into the Basilica from the Sistine Chapel we didn't have to wait in line to get in, which was nice. 

Jubilee doors- only opened every 25 years

One thing that I found really interesting about Rome in general, was that many of the materials used to build the Vatican were taken from other monuments from around Rome. So, for example, the Colosseum and Pantheon have been essentially stripped of all marble and copper they used to have. And now where do those materials reside? Inside, and as part of the Vatican. It's viewed as a sort of recycling in Rome, but I also think it's a shame that other monuments were stripped of their beauty to show the power of the church and to build these huge buildings and ultimately country.

Chancel in St. Peter's

St.Peter's dome

I cannot even describe the enormity of St. Peter's Basilica. It is the largest church in the world, and absolutely feels that way. There are markers on the floor showing how large other churches are in the world (Westminster Abbey, a Boston cathedral, etc). Two popes are here in waiting to become saints of the church and it is believed that St. Peter is buried under the alter of the church. Many famous artists contributed to both the building and pieces of work in the Basilica. It is a beautiful building and like nothing I have ever seen before. You have to visit if you are ever in Rome.

The "Arms of God" in Vatican Square

After we finished in Vatican City we decided to stay in that part of the city and went to Castel Sant'Angelo. This castle was formerly used as the Pope's fortress and is connected to Vatican City via tunnels that allowed for the Pope's safe escape, should Vatican City be attacked. If you have a limited amount of time, I would skip this one, but it was still interesting to see and had great panoramic views of the city from the top of the fortress.

Castel Sant'Angelo

We still had much more to see in Rome, and Saturday brought much more sightseeing and nicer weather for us. More to come!