Its dawn, the Piazza Navona looks beautiful in this light from the balcony, only two people walking their dogs in the square, it is truly beautiful, Rosie has to pinch herself.
We are up early to visit the Vatican Museums, admire the Sistine Chapel and stare in awe at the scale of St Peters Basilica. We each bought a 55 euro three hour tour that comes with a guide and early bird access to the sites/sights before the general admissions are allowed in. OMG it was incredible and worth every penny to be allowed in early!
We met outside the Vatican Museum at 7.00am and Jane conducted our English speaking tour, it was a small group, only 9 of us. The ear pieces we wore were fabulous, Rosie is abit of a wanderer and likes to take pictures, it was nice to be able to hear her explaining pieces while I took photos sometimes up to about 15 metres away from the group.
I can say we weren’t the only early birds, the crowds were still large, about 500 at that time of the morning, Jane said that over 25,000 per day visit where we were going. At 7.00am the general admission ques had 50 people waiting in it already….they couldn’t get in till 9.30….when we left at 1030, the que was over 1 km long and the wait….get this 4.5 hours!
The treasures of the Vatican are huge and vast, we only scratched the surface en route to the Sistine Chapel. The Hall of Tapestries, gigantic (as The Operator calls them) mats, showing religious stories were at least 10×5 metres and made in the 15 century. The weave was so tiny and they were so thick all stored in a humidity controlled corridor.
The next corridor held The Gallery of the Maps, 40 giant frescoes depicting the Italian regions and the papal land ownership during the reign of Pope Gregory X111, they were painted between 1580 – 1585 on drawings made by the most famous geographers of the time. The golden frescoed ceiling above it was astonishing, depicting stories of battles from the land on the maps below.
The Museum area is huge, winding narrow passages and stairwells separate the big Halls, Rosie was taking snaps and her ear piece suddenly went staticy…she looks around and The Operator spins from a window he was looking out of, we were suddenly out of range….where has our tour group gone?
The Operator said quick this way and dashes off up a corridor to the left, Rosie said there is no one in that corridor, I think they went the opposite way through this door….The Operator was going to argue…..normally he is 100% correct direction wise and Rosie way off, this time I was sure, my heart was racing, the shame of getting lost in the Vatican Museums….we were still out of commentary range as we raced down the stairwell….round the corner and, there they were. For once Rosie saved the day….she who always turns the wrong way out of her hotel room with such purpose.
We entered the Sistine chapel rather unceremoniously via a back staircase and BOOM, blown away. No photos please. The colours of the frescoes so bright, the depictions of the stories, the false perspectives….all amazing. The room must already have had 200 people in it, there was still plenty of room to wander around. We got a pew around the edge so could look skyward. Michelangelo was 36 years old when he painted this ceiling, only 11 years into his career. His last commission in the chapel was painting the huge Judgement Day wall at the age of 69. A remarkable career with a few pieces of wit, humour and propaganda of the day thrown in. Great stories.
There is a reddish stain in the back corner on the marble floor…..this is residue from the fireplace that is set up when the cardinals hold conclave when electing a new pope. It is where the voting papers are burnt and the smoke is released to the crowd in St Peters Square waiting to see if a decision has been made. Cool. The Sistine Chapel is the popes private chapel and it is closed every Sunday as Mass is held in there. We were so lucky to be in there with so few people….yesterdays afternoon tour from the company we were with had to be cancelled as that many people were visiting the chapel it would have taken 3/4 of an hour to shuffle from one end to the other packed in like sardines……a space of only 50 meters!
St Peters Basilica is amazing in its hugeness. 187 meters long it can hold 60,000 during mass. There are also another 45 chapels off the main church. It is the biggest church in Christendom and so lavish.
All of the artworks inside that look like paintings are actually mosaics, the pieces are so tiny that you have to get up close to actually realise they are not paintings. Michelangelos ‘Pieta’ is off to the side, this launched his career at the age of 24, it is amazing.
Cool story, this the Holy Door it only opens once every 25 years, it is actually concreted shut on the back side and it can only be opened by the Pope. All who pass through this door will not be judged on Judgement Day but will go straight past GO and enter directly into Heaven.
This privilege was grossly abused in past century’s as the wealthy paid a lot of money to pass through the doors…..today it is a ballot and you can apply for this privilege for free. Cunning church….what a great marketing ploy to raise a few quid in times gone past!
Oh, I finally got to see me a dead body….Pope Innocent 11th is the only Pope interred directly in the Basilica, all the rest are housed in the crypts below. His body lies encased in a glass coffin dressed in the robes of the day, His hands and face look a little odd because they have been bronzed. He was Pope from 1676-1689…..that is one old body.
After our tour of the Basilica we went outside into St Peters Square, the pope is visiting America at the moment and the faithful were pretty few on the ground. It was 1030 and the sun was just starting to beat down on the 1km ques to visit the places we had just been. It was a great trip, Rosie and The Operator would totally recommend.
The afternoon saw us at ll Vittoriano, Rosie must say that The Operators navigation of the streets and back alleys of Rome has been impeccable. Especially devising walking routes to keep the fierce sun off Rosie, much appreciated. ll Vittoriano was built in 1885 and soars to a height of 70m the unregulated traffic swirls around here in orderly craziness to a symphony of blowing horns and rude gestures from scooter drivers who wind around the cars at every opportunity. The monument was built to honor Victor Emmanuel the first king of a unified Italy, it also houses the tomb of the unknown soldier and has an awesome 360 view of Rome.
Check out the beauty of this city. This photo features the Colosseum and The Roman Forum ruins in all its majesty, we have visited these sights in the past and you can totally squeeze your eyes together and relive the enormity of this age.
Thank you Roma, its back to the balcony with some antipasto and a bottle of Prosecco for the evening. Tomorrow we train to Florence, Rosie cant wait to revisit a few special places….
this brings back so many good & not so good (queues) memories
This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I love seeing websites that understand the value of providing a quality resource for free. It is the old what goes around comes around routine. rome places to visit