You may have seen on earlier blogs that it's my goal to visit every European microstate. Today we went into Vatican City, the smallest country in the world with an area of just 49 hectares (121 acres) and just 764 residents. Specifically, we came to tour the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and see St. Peter's Basilica.
We had bought two tickets for a 10:30 walking tour of the places mentioned above. Our guide was an art history major and she was very good.
The museum exit. I took this for the wall actually, since that marks the border between Italy and Vatican City.
Inside the museum grounds, with St. Peter's in the background.
Pinacoteca (Paintings Gallery). We didn't get in here--the place is huge.
Sphere Within Sphere, Museum Grounds
The museum had Roman floor tiles all over the place.
Hall of the Muses
Nero's bathtub, bronze statue of Hercules behind it.
Athena floor mosaic
Satyr with the infant Dionysus. This sculpture is unique in that their eyes are made of glass.
Floor mosaic. That's a hippocampus on the right.
Ascension of the Lord tapestry
Slaughter of the Innocents tapestry
Coriolanus and the King of the Volsci tapestry. This one was restored.
"Italia Nova" in the Gallery of Maps
The Seven Angels Slay the Seven Demons, ceiling of the chapel of Pius V
Proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, Francesco Podesti
Raphael's School of Athens, 1509-1511
Raphael's The Crowning of Charlemagne, 1516-1517
The Thinker, by Rodin. He made several of these figures of varying sizes.
Pablo Picasso - Three Black Fish, 1957. I didn't know the Vatican Museum had a modern art collection. The works were primarily donated and not commissioned, so not all have religious motifs.
The tour ended with a walk through the Sistine Chapel. Unfortunately, no pictures of any kind were allowed. It was really something to see, but the link will give you better pictures than I could get--and without the crowds of people.
The official tour ended here and our guide gave us directions and advice for seeing St. Peter's Basilica which was free to enter. There were a lot of people here too, but the place is huge so we didn't feel crowded.
Fe and I outside the Basilica
A small part of the ceiling
Looking towards the Papal altar
St. Peter's Baldacchino. St. Peter lies directly below.
View of St. Peter's Square from the Basilica
Swiss Guards
Fe and I in the square
It was another long day, but I thought it was great. We left St. Peter's Square and walked down the center street--back into Italy (the border here follows the oval shape of Bernini's colonnade). Saw some embassies and more touristy things along the way, but we were ready for a quick dinner and so we took the subway back to our "neighborhood" and ate. Walked about 5.5 miles today which is good since I'm eating a lot of gelato.
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