Words and photos by Ben
On Tuesday we went to the Vatican museums, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel where we saw the famous Creation of Adam painting. We also had the experience of going beyond the public eye of the Vatican and into the restricted section. When there, due to our Italian friend Franco, we followed our guide Christina to an old roman necropolis unearthed and then excavated during the construction of the Vatican parking lot. There were remaining bones, inscriptions, sarcophagi, and ceremonial urns. We all documented photos of these amazing relics of Rome like the one below.
We then had a much needed lunch and visited the Vatican museums where countless statues and paintings are housed. The statues were collected from all over Rome and many special remains and imperial tombs are housed in the museums.
Although the walk through the displays was long at times we were definitely rewarded with the Sistine Chapel and the stunning announcements of the guards there telling everyone to be quiet. Next, we went to St. Peter's church and we're all dumbfounded by the amazing architecture, statues, and the special decorations of Holy Week. This was an especially stunning experience and we all ventured to a pasta dinner and a gelato pit stop before ending our day in the hotel.
Nice job with the pictures and the descriptions of your experiences in the Vatican area. There is so much to see there and it can be overwhelming, especially with jet lag, so bravo on taking in so much. I think the Scavi tour under St. Peter's is fantastic, so glad you got to do that.
ReplyDeleteAll the best,
DC