Italy: Day III (Rome) / Vatican City

Thursday, July 21^st:

St. Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica of the Vatican City:

            Never have I ever seen such magnificent buildings, art, and artifacts. This has been the most enlightening and breathtaking day of the trip, as we got to visit the Vatican museums and Basilica San Pietro (St. Peter’s Basilica). We woke up fairly early, early enough to get the hotel breakfast for the first time, and hopped in a cab to go to St. Peter’s Square. We wore pants today out of respect for the institution of Catholicism even in the hot summer sun. We had avoided the part of Rome that surrounds Vatican City, so my eyes absolutely lit up when we turned onto the boulevard that leads up to the biggest church in Catholicism. The squared was filled with thousands of tourists and plenty of people trying to get each one to join their own “exclusive tour.” We were nearly suckered into taking one of these, as the line to get inside St. Peter’s Basilica seemed long, however it ended up only taking about twenty minutes to clear through the security checkpoint and find the Vatican-run official guided tours inside. We signed up for a time slot and hurried inside the cathedral to check out the treasury inside before our tour began. I was tempted to walk around the massive expanse of gold and marble just then, but we decided to wait until our proper time. The treasury was pretty interesting as it contained lots of old religious artifacts used in rituals at the basilica, as well as pope regalia and garments from the days of old. We got to hurry through the treasury as well as the papal crypt underneath the basilica before heading back to meet our tour.

The Nave of St. Peter's Basilica:

            Our tour guide was very well versed in English and certainly taught me a great deal about St. Peter’s Basilica. The church was built on top of the tomb of St. Peter, and St. Peter’s Square is believed to be the location of the actual crucifixion of St. Peter. Another story I learned about along the way was about how the upside-down cross is St. Peter’s symbol. As the story goes, while St. Peter was being crucified, he begged to the Romans to be nailed to the cross upside-down because he believed that he was not worthy of an identical death to Jesus Christ. Our guide gave us many facts about the different doors of the basilica, including the door of death upon which the papal funeral procession exits, before we headed inside.

Michelangelo's Pieta:

            Upon stepping inside St. Peter’s Basilica, one can only feel absolute awe and amazement at the sheer magnitude of the building. The church could hold thousands of people at one time and not even seem crowded. We continued our tour counterclockwise from the front door around the basilica. The tour was primarily focused on the art and history of the basilica, however alternatively there is an audioguide tour that focuses on Catholicism and the religious significance of different parts of the church. Our first major stop was Michelangelo’s Pieta sculpture. The sculpture of Mary holding the deceased Christ now resides behind bulletproof glass after a madman attacked it with a knife in the 1970s, but still inspires all viewers. The detail and craftsmanship is simply unparalleled. We continued our tour around the northern side of the nave of St. Peter’s Basilica passed multiple papal tombs, including that of recently deceased Pope John Paul II. On the far end of the northern wall is the Blessed Sacrament Chapel restricted to visitors and reserved for quiet prayer. Max and I did take the time to check out the chapel and the Bernini tabernacle inside after our tour.

Bernini's Papal Altar and the Tomb of St. Peter:

            In the center of the nave is the incredible Papal Altar, cast in bronze by Bernini. The Altar sits directly on top of the tomb of St. Peter, and is surrounded by four columns and reliquaries holding four incredibly important Christian artifacts. Believed to be in these reliquaries is the tip of the spear that St. Longinus used to pierce the crucified Christ, splinters of the True Cross, the veil of St. Veronica used to wipe sweat from his face, and the head of St. Andrew. It was pretty incredible to take a step back and think that I was standing at the center of all of Christianity—arguably the most important site in one of the world’s major religions!

The Statue of St. Peter:

            In front of the Papal Altar, to the east, is the famous bronze sculpture of St. Peter. It is said that visitors will have their prayers answered if they rub the right foot of St. Peter, and it shows. After millions of visitors through countless years have participated in this tradition, the foot of St. Peter is merely a polished stub from the oils on human hands eroding the bronze!

The Throne of St. Peter:

            On the west side of the Papal Altar is the brilliant throne of St. Peter. In the center of the throne is an enormous stained glass window depicting the Holy Spirit in a usual form, as a white dove. The Holy Spirit overlooks the entire sanctuary and has a wingspan of over six meters! From the other end of the basilica, you can barely even make out that it is a bird. St. Peter’s Basilica is an incredible display of scale and the ability to capture visitors’ eyes from certain distances. None is a better example than the Holy Spirit window or Michelangelo’s dome on top of the church. While he did not paint or decorate the inside of the dome, nor was he alive to see its completion, it remains one of his greatest architectural creations.

Bernini's Sculpture of St. Longinus:

            We continued our tour around the south wall of the basilica, passing more papal tombs, reliquaries, artwork, and memorials. I do not mean to downplay the significance of each and every work of art, plaque, engraving, and memorial, however to explain each and every one would take a very long time and a lot of space on this blog! Just before exiting the basilica we got to look inside the private Chapel of the Choir where many weddings are held and the massive diamond decorations above the depiction of Mary on the Altar of the Immaculate Conception. What an incredible place!

The Apostolic Palace and the Papal Apartments:

            Max and I thanked our awesome tour guide and also signed up for another Vatican tour for a few hours later, the tour of the adjacent Vatican Museums and the famed Sistine Chapel. We had some time to kill, so we went back inside the basilica to enjoy it on our own pace. I also used this time to reflect and say a prayer inside the Blessed Sacrament Chapel before we decided to leave for some lunch. We stopped at a nearby tourist café called Café San Pietro and grabbed some Salad and Tortellini before heading back to St. Peter’s Square to meet our new tour guide and walk up to the museums.

The Halls of the Vatican  Museums and the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica:

            Our new tour guide was a little more difficult to understand, however it was manageable, and he led us in, out, and back inside of the Vatican City limits up to the Vatican Museums. Once inside, he gave us an introduction and a lot of information about the Sistine Chapel, as visitors are not allowed to talk inside the chapel itself. We continued the tour inside and were immediately greeted with the Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman artifacts and sculptures that have been amassed by Popes and the Vatican over centuries. Each room was filled with hundreds of priceless artifacts—too many to even talk about for the tour guide, as one could spend weeks inside these museums and still barely scratch the surface of its volumes.

The Bronze Sculpture of Hercules in the Sala Rotonda:

            The Sala Rotonda is the first of the major rooms of the Vatican Museums, filled with Roman sculptures of great emperors, heroes, and gods. Multiple depictions of the great Hercules exist in this room, as well as extremely highly detailed mosaics of great Roman battles. It is almost a bit of a shame that we had to move so quickly through this museum, as I really could have spent a whole day admiring each work or artifact.

A Raphael Cartoon:

The Hall of Maps:

            We continued into the hall of Raphael cartoons—a hall filled with massive woven tapestries created by Raphael’s followers in his studio following his sketches. The next hallway was known as the Hall of Maps, as it is filled with enormous old topographic maps of the different parts of Italy through different eras in history. The ceiling of that room was equally awesome as it was filled with hundreds of extremely colorful small paintings and lavish decorations. Again, I could talk for days about each of these rooms, but I will save each and every detail for everyone’s future trip here!

The Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (Sneaky...):

Michelangelo's Last Judgment (Note the Sneakiness):

            Finally, at the very end of the tour, we reached the Sistine Chapel. I thought I was in awe when I entered St. Peter’s Basilica—I was not ready for the sight that hit my eyes. I have never, and will never, see anything more beautiful in my life. It sounds cliché, but Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling and his Last Judgment are probably the two most famous works of art, most absolutely incredible works of art, and the closest thing to perfection the world of art has reached to-date. My neck hurt from staring without moving at the ceiling for so long! The color restoration efforts that were completed in the last few years really did wonders to transform the artwork back into the splendid shades it was meant to be seen with. Visitors are not allowed to talk in there, nor take pictures, but Museum officials pace the room silencing those who do speak up and kicking people out who try to sneak pictures. After about a half hour or more of admiring the brilliance and peak of Renaissance art, I did manage to sneak a couple of my own before Max and I headed back into the museum to view some unguided sections before we decided we were too tired to continue. We were also told of the room adjacent to the Sistine Chapel, the Paulina Chapel, which was also lavishly painted and decorated by Michelangelo. Our tour guide showed us a keyhole where we could look into this extremely private room, however it was tough to see and short lived as a Swiss Guard discovered our plot and covered up the hole!

Max and I Atop the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica:

            The Vatican is one of the most ridiculously humbling and outstanding places I have visited on the face of the planet. But a warning to those who do go visit: it will be a very long, very tiring day, but one that you will never regret; just be prepared. Max and I took our remaining strength to climb to the top of Michelangelo’s dome to take in the views it affords as the tallest building in Rome. It is a brutally long and strenuous climb, but it is extremely worth it and gratifying to reach the top. After climbing back down, we hopped in a cab and headed back to our hostel for a much needed nap before dinner. We did not get to see the famous Raphael rooms in the Vatican Museums, but I suppose I must leave something to come back for!

Rome from Atop St. Peter's Basilica:

            We ventured back out after a few hours of sleep to find some dinner at a place called Numbs, again fairly close to the Spanish Steps. Here I enjoyed some Bruschetta, Fusilli with Pesto, Beef strips with zuchini and tomatoes, and some Nastro Azzurro beer. Max and I enjoyed some post dinner cappuccinos while taking in the ambiance of Rome, complete with an accordion player and all! Following dinner, we walked back to the area near our hostel and found a fun bar called The Yellow where we met a bunch of kids our age from Australia, the US, and various countries around central Europe. We also met a nice guy named Drew Morgan who knew a friend of mine from high school—small world, as always. We hung out here for the majority of the night, enjoying conversations with our new friends and the US Military Veteran bartender before getting some shuteye after the longest but most incredible day of our great journey. And to think: No run-ins with the Swiss Guard!

A Swiss Guard: