 | Rome Vatican Museum & City Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 477 |  |
 | |  |  | Vatican Museum & City: VATICAN MUSEUM - WORTHWHILE ? | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
No doubt the Vatican museum is one of the major multidepartment museums in the world but if you stay only a few days in Rome is it worthwhile to line up for nearly two hours to get in and fight your way through the crowd inside?
A VT friend asked me why after visiting and commenting six Roman museums I kept silent about the Vatican museum (except showing the 2008 opening hours).
Well, my wife and I visited this museum around 1995. We waited 45 minutes in the rain, were very happy to get inside where it was dry but when we came out both of us felt somewhat disappointed. We had expected more!
The crowd in the Sistine chapel had spoiled our pleasure and what we saw in the other parts was not extraordinary; we had seen similar works of art elsewhere under better conditions.
Let me give you some examples about parts of the Vatican museum of which similar art works can be seen elsewhere without losing your time in long lines:
1° Greek and Roman antiquities. You can see works of art as good in quality at the Museo Capitolino and Palazzo Massimo, Palazzo Altemps (without lines).
2° Pinacotheca. Religious subjects by great Italian painters are very common in Italy. No need to line up during two hours to see some.
3° Stanze (rooms) of Raphael. Yes this are great works of art. Now if your interest for frescoes is a general one, not specific to Raphael, there are many other frescoes to be seen in Rome. If you came for the frescoes of Raphael you have to line up.
The "masterpiece", "chef-d'oeuvre", "capolavoro" of the Vatican is the Sistine Chapel for which there is no substitute. Therefore, at least once in our life, we line up in the rain or in the sun for 1 - 2 hours or pay a lot of money for a group visit.
I would certainly visit again the chapel if some Monsignor would take me here on a private visit. As the probability for such favour is zero I read a good illustrated guide on the frescoes of Michelangelo. Something I would recommend to all visitors because the frescoes are at 20 m height, so that the details are not much visible.
If it is your first visit to Rome, your only visit, you can not escape the lines. My photo shows the 500 m line starting at the Piazza del Risorgimento.
Many good tips (Lacristina, Icunme a.o.) have been given here how to reduce somewhat the waiting.
Bon courage.
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| | | | Vatican Museum & City: NEWS FLASH - Unveiled necropolis at Vatican | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Unveiled necropolis at Vatican Opens
Three years ago during construction of a parking lot, a new necropolis was discovered. The Vatican announced its opening to visitors in October, 2006. Visitors will be able to descend into an ancient world of the dead that was a burial place for the rich and not-so-affluent during Roman imperial rule. One archaeologist noted that sculptures, engravings and other objects found entombed with the dead made the find a "little Pompeii" of cemeteries.
The burial sites, ranging from simple terra-cotta funerary urns with ashes still inside to ornately sculptured sarcophagi, date from between the era of Augustus (23 B.C. to 14 A.D.) to that of Constantine in the first part of the 4th century.
From specially constructed walkways, visitors can look down on some skeletons, including that of an infant buried by loved ones who left a hen's egg beside the body. The egg, whose smashed shell was reconstructed by archaeologists, might have symbolized hopes for a rebirth, officials at a Vatican Museums news conference said Monday.
The remains of the child, whose gender was not determined, were discovered during the construction of the walkways, after the main excavation had finished, said Daniele Battistoni, a Vatican archaeologist.
Buried there were upper-class Romans as well as simple artisans, with symbols of their trade, offering what archaeologists called rare insights into middle- and lower-middle-class life.
"We found a little Pompeii of funeral" life, said Giandomenico Spinola, a head of the Museums' classical antiquities department.
"We have had the mausoleums of Hadrian and Augustus," Spinola said, referring to majestic monuments along the Tiber in Rome, "but we were short on these middle- and lower-class" burial places.
The burial sites help "document the middle class, which usually escapes us," said Paolo Liverani, an archaeologist and former Museums official who worked as a consultant on the site. "You don't construct history with only generals and kings." Directions: VISITS TO THE VATICAN NECROPOLIS: Enquiries: Excavations Office, by e-Mail (scavi@fsp.va) or by fax +39 06 69873017Other Contact: e-Mail: scavi@fsp.va
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| | | | Vatican Museum & City: Tips on Visiting the Vatican Museums | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Update, Apr '08. New extended entry times at the Vatican! Your guidebook is probably out of date. Even better news! Lines may become a thing of the past. Starting June 1, tickets for the Vatican Museums will be available for purchase online at www.vaticanstate.va. WOW! If this is true, I am delighted.
The new hours: The museums are now open all year from 8:30 to 18:00 (6 pm) (last entry 16:00 (4 pm), including Saturdays!
For now, if not booking a tour, best to go around noon (winter) or later (as early as late March), when the line is shorter. I've taken the Vatican's own tour, and although you skip some collections, the tour was good. You can go back to see whatever you missed after the tour. Book a tour or check the schedule here: http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Info.html
The last Sunday of the month, it's free but packed! Mondays are crowded because most other museums are closed. See my tip here: Free Sundays at the Vatican.
Helpful, but not necessary to rent an audio guide; many exhibits have English signs. The Sistine Chapel is a long way from the entrance. If you rent an audio guide, you'll have to go all the way back to return it & retrieve your ID. Otherwise, you can exit right onto St. Peter's.
With your back to the altar in the Sistine Chapel, exit via the right hand door instead of the left.
On the way to the Sistine Chapel, you can visit several museum collections (Egyptian, Etruscan, the Raphael Rooms, etc.) or you can skip them. It's up to you. But these collections are truly wonderful. Note that the Painting Gallery, the Pinacoteca, is the opposite direction at the museum entrance.
The cafeteria has decent food at reasonable prices. Bathrooms are nearby and also near the Sistine Chapel.
Do yourself a favor with a bit of research on the Sistine Chapel before you go. Otherwise it's so overwhelming you won't know what you're looking at. Buy or borrow a book, or try a website like: http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sistine/0-Tour.html Leave a Comment Address: Entrance on Viale Vatican near Via SantamauraPhone: 06 - 698 - 833 - 33Directions: Vatican City, Metro stop Ottaviano Line A. Walkable from many locations, or take a taxiWebsite: http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html
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| | | | Vatican Museum & City: Free Sundays at the Vatican Museums? Don't do it! | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Or go VERY early.
It sounds tempting, doesn't it? The last Sunday of the month, the Vatican Museums are open - and free! Saves you 14 euros per person; if you have a large group, it can add up. Well, that's exactly what all other budget-minded tourists and locals are thinking, too.
Click on the photo and see what awaits you! My traveling companion had no other time but Sunday morning available to her. This is the Gallery of Maps around 11 a.m. on a Sunday, on the way to the Sistine Chapel. It is a RIVER of people. . . .no, a TORRENT of people headed to the Sistine Chapel. Occasionally you can work your way to an eddy on the edge so that you could actually stop and look at something, but it isn't easy. (The Egyptian Museum and Pio Clemente sculpture museum were a bit less crowded; the Etruscan Museum was virtually deserted.)
If you're still determined to go, here's my suggestion.
The Museums open at 8:45. Get in line by 7:30. No, I'm not kidding. I thought 8 a.m. would be early enough, but luckily Rome VT friend Abarbieri suggested earlier, and he was right. At 8, the line was huge, we couldn't see the end of it. At 7:30, we were only about 75 meters from the entrance. We actually got in around 9 and took two hours to see the other museums before I took the photo. Leave a Comment Address: Entrance on Viale Vatican near Via SantamauraPhone: 06 - 698 - 833 - 33Directions: Vatican City, Metro stop Ottaviano Line A, walk or take a taxiWebsite: http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html
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| | | | Vatican Museum & City: Cappella Sistina | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Built between 1475 and 1483, in the time of Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere, the Sistine Chapel has originally served as Palatine Chapel. The chapel is rectangular in shape and measures 40.93 meters long by 13.41 meters wide, i.e. the exact dimensions of the Temple of Solomon, as given in the Old Testament. It is 20.70 meters high and is roofed by a flattened barrel vault, with little side vaults over the centered windows.
The architectural plans were made by Baccio Pontelli and the construction work was supervised by Giovannino de' Dolci. The first Mass in the Sistine Chapel was celebrated on August 9, 1483.
The wall paintings were executed by Pietro Perugino, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Cosimo Rosselli, Luca Signorelli and their respective workshops, which included Pinturicchio, Piero di Cosimo and Bartolomeo della Gatta.
Michelangelo Buonarroti was commissioned by Pope Julius II della Rovere in 1508 to repaint the ceiling; the work was completed between 1508 and 1512. He painted the Last Judgement over the altar, between 1535 and 1541, being commissioned by Pope Paul III Farnese. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Vatican Museum & City: Incredible Sistine Chapel | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Not everyone who visits the Vatican is aware that it is a sovereign stateand has been since 1929. The Pope rules it as Europe's only absolute monarch! It includes St. Peter's Cathedral, The Vatican Gardens, The Vatican Museums, and the famed Sistine Chapel.
I suggest that all of these be on your agenda for a visit. But, I strongly recommend the Sistine Chapel.
Go early because you will, no doubt, have to stand in line. The last person to enter is at 1:00 PM. So, it's better to see it first and then see the Cathedral.
Michelangelo did the ceiling for Pope Julius II, and it shows the Creation of the World and The Fall of Man. It was restored in the 1980s. I had a sore neck from looking up at it. Some people bring mirrors to make it easier!
23 years later, Michelangelo painted the Last Judgementon the wall above the main altar. Some previous work had to be destroyed as well as a couple of windows to make the wall ready for the painting.
It took Michelangelo seven years to complete this work. The Last Judgment is, I feel, more powerful. It shows the souls of the dead rising up to face the wrath of God. The Pope wanted it to serve as a warning to Catholics (during the time of the Reformation.)
It also shows the "damned" who are hurled to the demons in hell. Charon who is the boatman who rows the people to the underworld in Roman Mythology is shown tossing people into the River Styx. It's interesting how these myths are mixed into scenes from the Bible!
I can tell you this, when you walk out of the Sistine Chapel, you know for certain that Michelangelo was a genius. Leave a Comment Directions: Located in the Papal Palace next to the St. Peter's Cathedral.
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