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The Vatican City: This post is about Vatican City's historical places

The Vatican City is world famous as the centre of the Roman Catholic Church.

is the smallest state in Europe, both in population and expanse.

The Vatican City or Holy See or The heart of Rome:

vatican city population : 1000

vatican city area : 44 ha

vatican city Continent: Europe

vatican city government : Unitary absolute monarchy under an ecclesiastical and elective theocracy

vatican city capital : Vatican City

vatican city currency : Euro

vatican city flag : Divided vertically into two equal stripes, yellow (at the hoist) and white (at the fly). The white stripe bears the traditional papal emblem, the crossed keys of St. Peter beneath the papal tiara. It is commonly called the “papal flag” (Italian, bandiera pontificia)

vatican city Language: Italian

Vatican City (Città del Vaticano in Italian) is an independent city state located in the heart of Rome, ruled by the Pope (Bishop of Rome). It is the centre of authority over the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican is the smallest state in Europe. It has a total area of 0,44 km² and inside its wall live approximately 1000 people.In this small state lives the Pope, in the Apostolic palace surrounded by beautiful gardens. The palace is open to the public, but visitors have to book in advance.The Vatican City was declared independent from the rest of Italy on 11 February, 1929, with the signing of the Lateran Treaty between Pope Pius XI and Mussolini.

Holy See : 'See' as a noun means "the seat or office of a bishop". 'Holy See' means the see of the bishop of Rome. Therefore, the term refers to the city-state of Vatican because it happens to be the territory in which the Pope resides. The term as used by the United Nations refers not to the city of Vatican but to the government of the Roman Catholic Church. It is this government, not Vatican City, which is represented at the UN.

St. Peter's Square:

St. Peter's Square is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighbourhood or rione of Borgo. Both the square and the basilica are named after Saint Peter, an apostle of Jesus considered by some to be the first Pope. The St. Peter’s Square was built by Gian Lorenzo Bernini between 1656 and 1667,during the pontificate of Alexander VII (1655-1667), and is located on the St. Peter’s Basilica. This is the square where the giant St. Peter and Egyptian Obelisk can be found. Of great interest is the Royal Staircase, which links the square to the Vatican Palaces. It was built between 1662 and 1666, and although it actually measures 60 metres, perspective devices, such as the progressive narrowing of the width and a reduced distance between the columns towards the top, make it look much longer.

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The square is made up of two different areas. The first has a trapezoid shape, marked off by two straight closed and convergent arms on each side of the church square. The second area is elliptical and is surrounded by the two hemicycles of a four-row colonnade, because, as Bernini said, “considering that Saint Peter’s is almost the matrix of all the churches, its portico had to give an open-armed, maternal welcome to all Catholics, confirming their faith; to heretics, reconciling them with the Church; and to the infidels, enlightening them about the true faith.” Bernini had in fact designed a three-armed portico, but after Alexander VII’s death, construction of the portico was halted, and the third arm was never built. It would have enclosed the whole building and separated the ellipse from the “Borgo” quarter, thus creating a “surprise effect” for the pilgrim who suddenly found himself in the square. This effect was somewhat achieved by the buildings surrounding the square, the so-called “Spina di Borgo”, which naturally “closed in” the square. In 1950, Via della Conciliazione, a new, wide street leading to the Vatican Basilica, was opened.

It amplifies the majestic view of Saint Peter’s dome, but it also profoundly modified Bernini’s original plan. The measurements of the square are impressive: it is 320 m deep, its diameter is 240 m and it is surrounded by 284 columns, set out in rows of four, and 88 pilasters. Around the year 1670, Bernini’s pupils built 140 statues of saints, 3.20 m high along the balustrade above the columns. On either side of the obelisk, which was moved to the middle of the square by Domenico Fontana in 1585, are two great fountains built by Bernini (1675) and Maderno (1614). Below, at the foot of the staircase in front of the basilica, the statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul seem to welcome visitors.

St. Peter's Basilica:

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One of the largest churches in the world, St Peter’s Basilica, built in Italian Renaissance style is located in the Vatican. Numerous Popes have been buried here. St. Peter’s Basilica is one of the holiest temples for Christendom and one of the largest churches in the world. Besides, it is where the Pope presides many liturgies all year round.

The construction of the new basilica began in 1506, when the old basilica had been torn down, and was finished in 1626. It was consecrated on 18 November, 1626. Several renowned architects designed the temple, highlighting the works of Bramante, Michelangelo and Carlo Maderno. The basilica was called St Peter’s after one of Jesus’s twelve disciples known as Saint Peter, who became one of the founders of the Catholic Church and was executed in Rome and buried where the Basilica now stands.

One of the most impressive parts of the Basilica is its incredible dome. Its design was started by Michelangelo and continued by Giacomo Della Porta. Carlo Maderno finished the dome in 1614.

This dome has served as inspiration for many other cathedrals and buildings, for example, the Capitol in Washington and St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Visiting St Peter’s Basilica is an unforgettable experience when staying in Rome. Visitors mustn’t miss out on climbing to the top of the dome, where a stunning view of St Peter’s Square, and if the day is clear of most of the city, awaits them.

Climbing to the top might prove to be a little oppressive for some, as the last part of the ascent is a narrow and steep spiral staircase.

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The church is built on Vatican Hill, across the Tiber river from the historic center of Rome. The location is highly symbolic: this was the site where Saint Peter, the chief apostle, died a martyr and where he was buried in 64 AD. St. Peter is considered the first pope, so it made perfect sense for the papacy to build the principal shrine of the Catholic church here.

Brief History: The First Basilica: In the early fourth century Emperor Constantine, the first Christian emperor of Rome, decided to build a basilica on Vatican Hill at the site of small shrine that marked the likely location of the tomb of St. Peter. Construction of the basilica started between 319 and 322. It was consecrated in 326 AD and finally completed around 349 AD. To facilitate the construction, a part of the terrain was leveled and the necropolis where St. Peter was originally buried was demolished.

The basilica had an eighty-five meter (279 ft) long nave with four aisles and a spacious atrium with a central cantharus (fountain), enclosed by a colonnade. A bell tower stood at the front of the atrium. Visitors entered the atrium through a triple-arched portico.

In the middle of the fifteenth century, the basilica was falling into ruin and pope Nicolas V ordered the restoration and enlargement of the church after plans by Bernardo Rossellino. After Nicolas V died, works were halted.

No progress was made for half a century until pope Julius II decided to build a completely new church. He appointed Donato Bramante as chief architect. Bramante designed a structure with a high dome on a Greek cross plan (all sides have equal lengths). In 1506 Julius II laid the first stone of the new basilica which was to become the largest in the world.

After Bramante's death in 1514 he was succeeded by a number of different architects, all of whom made changes to the design, most notably Michelangelo Buonarroti, who became chief architect in 1547 at the age of seventy-two. He conceived the imposing dome and made further alterations to the plans.

At the time of Michelangelo's death in 1564 only the drum of the dome was built. The dome was finally completed in 1590 by Giacomo della Porta. On request of pope Paul V the imposing edifice was extended further into a true Latin cross plan by Carlo Maderno, who completed the main facade in 1614. The church was finally reconsecrated in 1626 by pope Urban VIII, exactly 1300 years after the consecration of the first church. Ever since, the St. Peter's Basilica has been the center of Christianity, drawing pilgrims and tourists from all over the world.

Visitors on their way to the St. Peter's Basilica pass along St. Peter's Square, a grandiose elliptical esplanade created in the mid seventeenth century by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The square is bordered by massive colonnades that symbolize outstretched arms. Bernini and his assistants sculpted the 140 statues of saints that grace the balustrades on the colonnades. The square is decorated with fountains and an Egyptian obelisk that was transported to Rome in 37 AD.

The view of St. Peter's Basilica from the square is unfortunately a bit disappointing; the result of the enlargement of the church carried out by Carlo Maderno, which partly obscures Michelangelo's dome.

The building itself is truly impressive. The largest church in the world, it has a 211.5 meter long nave (694 ft, including the narthex). The basilica's dome is one of the world's largest measuring 42 meters in diameter and reaching 132.5 meters high (more than 434ft).

Front Facade: The travertine front facade of the basilica was created by Carlo Maderno, who slightly altered Michelangelo's original design by widening the narthex to 114.7 meters. Maderno also placed the massive columns against the walls instead of in front of the building, as Michelangelo had intended.

The 45.5 meters (149 ft) high facade is crowned with 5.7 meter tall statues of Christ, John the Baptist and the apostles except for St. Peter. On either side are huge clocks supported by angels and decorated with ornaments and the papal crest. They were added in the early nineteenth century and are the work of Giuseppe Valadier. Below the clock on the left you can see the church bells.

Five entrances lead to the narthex (the lobby area) of the church, where you find an equestrian statue of Charles the Great on the left and another equestrian statue of Emperor Constantine, created by Bernini. Five doors lead from the narthex to the nave of the basilica. The central bronze door was created in the fifteenth century by the Florentine sculptor and architect Filarete for the old basilica. The door on the right is the Porta Santa, the holy door which is only opened once every twenty-five years.

Interior: Once inside the nave the enormous size of the church becomes apparent. The basilica has a surface area of 15,160 square meters, enough space to accommodate 60,000 visitors. It is covered by a coffered barrel vault ceiling and a huge central dome.

The opulence of the interior bears testimony to the wealth of the Catholic church in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is decorated with large monuments, many of which were created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, one of the greatest artists of all time.

One of his main creations invariably draws the immediate attention of visitors: the enormous, twenty-six meter high bronze baldachin over the papal altar. The Baroque masterpiece is crafted from bronze that was taken from the ceiling and pediment of the Pantheon. The design of the spiraling columns was inspired by marble columns that originally adorned the crypt of the old basilica.

In front of the papal altar is the confessio (burial crypt) that marks the presumed grave of St. Peter. It is encircled by a balustrade with ninety-five bronze oil lamps.

The confessio is located right below the majestic dome. Look up and you'll see the impressive colorful vaulting with sixteen ribs that are supported by four massive pillars. The triangular spaces where the pillars meet the dome are decorated with mosaics depicting the evangelists. Light enters through the lantern and the sixteen large windows below the cornice.

Huge niches in the pillars hold five meter tall statues of the saints Andrew, Veronica, Helena and Longinus. The latter was created by Bernini, the others by students and assistants of the master. They stand on pedestals that are almost as tall as the statues that are placed on them. Above the niches are loggias that hold the relics associated with the four saints.

The pillar with the statue of Longinus also provides the backdrop for a bronze statue of St. Peter. First thought to be a late-classical work, it is now attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio, a thirteenth century architect and sculptor.

The apse of the basilica is decorated with a bombastic Baroque work that integrates the Cathedra Petri, the supposed chair of St. Peter. The chair is encapsulated in a bronze throne with reliefs that is supported by four church fathers; Athanasius and Johannes represent the Eastern Church while Ambrose and Augustine represent the Western Church. Above the throne is a large oval window surrounded by numerous angels.

The tomb of pope Urban VIII, to the right of the throne, was also created by Bernini. The tomb opposite, of Paul III, is the work of Giacomo della Porta. There are plenty more tombs and sepulchral monuments in St. Peter's, most notably the monument to Alexander VII, another work of Bernini. It depicts the pope praying in front of a skeleton holding an hourglass. Statues alongside the skeleton represent virtues. One of the figures was originally nude but the prudish pope Innocent XI ordered Bernini to cover it with a marble drape. Another notable monument is the tomb of Innocent VII, sculpted in 1498 by Antonio del Pollaiolo. It is the only papal tomb in the church that was transferred from the original fourth century basilica.

The most famous monument in the St. Peter's Basilica is the Pietà, a marble sculpture of a young looking Mary holding the dead body of her son. It was created in 1499-1500 by Michelangelo at the early age of twenty-five. The monument is located in the first chapel on the right. It is the only work of Michelangelo that bears his signature. He etched his name on the ribbon that runs across Mary's chest, allegedly after he heard that people attributed his work to another artist. The sculpture was heavily damaged in 1972 when a deranged visitor hit it with a hammer; it is now protected by a bulletproof glass screen.

Most of the paintings in the church are replicas of the original paintings created for the basilica, many of which are now on display in the Vatican Pinacoteca. The high humidity in the church ruined the oil paintings which started to suffer from mold damage. Some have been replaced by mosaics such as 'The Transfiguration', a painting by Raphael, which was recreated in 1774 as a mosaic by Stefano Pozzi.

The floor of the basilica has a colorful marble pattern. Look for the red porphyry disc near the central door. In the old church it was located in front of the main altar. Emperors - most notably Charles the Great (in 800 AD) - were crowned while standing on the disc. There are also bronze markings that compare the size of the church with that of others, including the St. Paul's Cathedral in London and the Cologne Cathedral.

Right in front of the left transept is the entrance to the Museo Storico-Artistico (entrance not free), better known as the tesoro or treasury. On display are several historic crucifixes, including the sixth-century Crux Vaticana. There are also objects taken from the old church, such as a tabernacle created by Donatello.

It is also possible to visit the Sacre Grotte or Grotte Vaticane, a necropolis below the nave where you find the graves of more than one hundred popes. The Grotte was created when the floor of the new basilica was built 3.2 meters above the old one. It can be reached via a stair near the statue of Longinus.

The crowning piece of the St. Peter's Basilica is the majestic dome, a masterpiece designed by Michelangelo. The dome has a diameter of 42.34 meters and rests on four massive five-sided pillars. On top of the pillars rests a cylindrical drum - with sixteen large rectangular windows - that supports the ribbed vault. The ribs come together at the oculus on which an enormous lantern is placed. The outside of the drum and lantern are decorated with double Corinthian pillars.

There is a viewing platform at the base of the lantern from where you can enjoy an unparalleled panorama over Rome. You have the option of taking the elevator or the stairs, the latter being a bit cheaper. At the foot of the dome you can walk onto the roof terrace, from where you get a close-up view of the dome. The galleries inside give you a birds-eye view of the interior of the church. From here a long, narrow and spiraling staircase brings you to the top of the dome. The staircase is situated between the inner and outer shells of the dome, so the walls are somewhat slanted. The rather uneasy climb and the entrance fee are definitely worth it though since you are rewarded with one of the best views over the city.

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The Constantinian basilica disappeared with time. Over 150 years passed from the decision of Nicholas V Parentucelli to enlarge and restore the ancient basilica to the completion of the Renaissance building with the façade (1612). This is quite a long period of time in terms of the number of years, but it is absolutely understandable if one remembers the enormous amount of work and the continuous changes in the planning. In the over 150 years required to complete the basilica, the most famous artists of the time directed the “Fabbrica di San Pietro”. Among these were Raphael Sanzio, who decided to transform Bramante’s Greek cross design with a Latin cross-like structure in 1514; Antonio da Sangallo the Younger; and Michelangelo who, during the pontificate of Paul III, decided to reuse the original Greek cross plan, designed the dome and supervised its construction until his death in 1564.

Over the course of the next thirty years, the “Fabbrica di San Pietro” was directed by Giacomo Vignola, and then by the architects Giacomo Della Porta and Domenico Fontana, who completed Michelangelo’s plan of the dome around 1588. Saint Peter’s Basilica reached its present state thanks to Carlo Maderno, who went back to the Latin cross plan and defined the scenographic aspect of the façade.

Work on the basilica was completed during the pontificate of Urban VIII in 1626, but it was only between 1656 and 1667 that Bernini, commissioned by Alexander VII, planned and constructed the great colonnade in Saint Peter’s Square with the 1st century B.C. obelisk in the middle. Originally set in the centre of Caligula’s Circus, where Saint Peter was martyred, it was moved to the present site in 1585 by Domenico Fontana, who was directed to do so by Sixtus V. Saint Peter’s Basilica can host 20,000 people. It is 190 m long, the aisles are 58 m wide, the nave is 45.50 m high as far as the vault, the dome is about 136 m high as far as the cross. The interiors, characterized by huge mosaics, are sites of some of the most famous art works from all over the world, for example, Bernini’s baldachin and Michelangelo’s Pietà.

Vatican Museums:

Source 1:

The Vatican Museums are the Vatican city's museums and includes admissions to Sistine Chapel, Chapel of Beato Angelico and Raphael Rooms

The origins of these museums go back to 1503, the year in which the recently named Pope Julius II donated his private collection. Since that moment private families and other popes have enlarged the collection of the museums to the point where it has become one of the largest in the world.

At present, the Vatican Museums receive more than 6 million visitors annually, although without doubt, one of the reasons for this is that they form the entrance to the Sistine Chapel.

What museums are there in the interior?

Pio-Clementino Museum: Created thanks to the popes Clement XIV and Pius VI, this museum holds the most important Greek works in the Vatican. Apartment of Pius V: The work of Pope Pius V, this museum contains Flemish tapestries from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a collection of medieval ceramics and another of medieval miniature mosaics.

Gallery of the Chandeliers: Roman replicas of Greek originals and enormous chandeliers from the second century A.D. decorate this elegant gallery. Ethnological Missionary Museum: This museum contains works of art from all the papal missions of the world, among which there are objects originating from Tibet, Indonesia, India, the Far East, Africa and America.

Gallery of Maps: Carried out between the years 1580 and 1585, the beautiful maps painted in fresco on the walls of this gallery represent the Italian regions and the possessions of the Church.

Historical Museum - Carriage Pavilion: In this section you will find coaches, saddles, cars, and even the Vatican City´s first locomotive. Gallery of Tapestries: Exhibition of Flemish tapestries created between 1523 and 1534.

Pio-Christian Museum: The collection of Christian antiquities is composed of statues, sarcophagi and archaeological ruins from the sixth century.

Pinacoteca: The eighteen rooms in the Pinacoteca building contain pictorial works dating from the Middle Ages until 1800. Sobieski Room and the Room of the Immaculate: In both rooms you will find paintings originating in the Italian "Ottocento".

Egyptian Museum: Among other pieces acquired by the popes you can find some impressive Egyptian sculptures, besides the prized sarcophagi from the third century B.C. There are also some black basalt statues originating from the Villa Adriana, which are replicas of Egyptian models.

Etruscan museum: This part of the museum contains elements of ceramic, bronze and gold belonging to the Etruscan civilization.

Chiaramonti Museum: Created thanks to Pius VII Chiaramonti, this gallery holds thousands of sculptures including portraits of emperors, images of the gods and some funeral monuments.

Gregorian Profane Museum: Its rooms hold Greek and Roman sculptures from the first to third centuries A.D. Borgia Apartment: The apartments that belonged to the Pope Alexander VI Borgia today serve as exhibition rooms for the Collection of Modern Religious Art. Raphael Rooms: Rafael and his assistants decorated the apartments of the Pope Julius II with unparalleled taste. Sala Della Biga: A monumental figure of marble of a chariot drawn by two horses carried out in the first century A.D. fills the space and gives the room its name.

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History of the Museums

The Vatican Museums were founded under the patronage of two eighteenth-century popes - Clement XIV (1769-1774) and Pius VI (1775-1799) - who were among the first to open collections of art to the general public for viewing, therefore promoting culture among the masses. Appropriately, the first building in the museum complex, the Pio-Clementine Museum, was named after these two pontiffs.

The origin of the museums' collection goes back much further. It all started in 1480 with the discovery of a Roman statue, 'The Apollo of Belvedere', still one of the highlights of the Vatican Museums. In 1503 Julius II had the statue placed in the Cortile Ottagono, an octagonal courtyard.

As the decades passed, more popes added to the amazing collection of diverse artworks owned and displayed by the Vatican. Today, there are thirteen museums in a huge architectural complex comprising of two Vatican palaces. Octagonal courtyard, Vatican Museums Octagonal courtyard

Detail from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Museums Sistine Chapelx The building complex is worth a visit in itself as all the rooms and hallways are lavishly decorated with marble and frescoes.

The Museums and Collections It's best not to try and see everything in one visit - the whole route along all the museums is seven kilometers long (4.4 mi) - but focus on a number of highlights or museums you want to see. And make sure you have some time and energy left over for the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel, which are located towards the end of the museum.

To keep the massive crowds under control, the museum has four color-coded itineraries that range from one and a half hours to more than five hours. All itineraries end in the Sistine Chapel.

Classical Antiquities One of the Vatican Museums' main strengths is the collection of ancient Roman and Greek art, which is spread over four museums. Some of the most famous statues, including the Laocoön and the Apollo del Belvedere can be found here.

The Pio-Clementine Museum (Museo Pio—Clementino) forms the core of the Vatican Museums. Most of the collection consists of statues discovered in and around Rome.

Among the many highlights is the so-called Apoxyomenos (the Scraper), a 1st century marble copy of a famous bronze statue by Lysippos. The statue was discovered in 1849 in Trastevere. It depicts an athlete scraping the sweat of his body. The fig leaf was added later (Romans and Greek never censored their artwork).

The Octagon Court (Cortile Ottagonale), the oldest part of the Vatican Museums, contains several masterpieces. Among them the Apollo of Belvedere, another Roman copy of a Greek original by Leochares. The statue of the god Apollo stretching out his arm has been described as the perfection of aesthetics.

But even more famous is the Laocoön, a sculpture group discovered in 1506 on the Esquiline Hill. The group was created in around 30 BC by three sculptors from Rhodes who probably copied an original from the 2nd century BC. It depicts the Trojan priest Laocoön and his two sons being strangled by serpents. According to a story by the Roman poet Virgil, Laocoön warned the Trojans not to bring the wooden horse into Troy so the goddess Athena sent two serpents out to kill the priest. The sculpture group is acclaimed for its dignified portrayal of agony.

The Hall of the Muses (Sala delle Muse) is decorated with frescoes of Apollo and the Muses, created in the late eighteenth century by Tommaso Conca. The centerpiece here is the Belvedere Torso. The statue was found in the Campo de' Fiori and is signed by Apollonius of Athens, a Greek sculptor of the first century BC. Unfortunately the legs and arms are missing but the torso is considered a perfect example of male anatomy. The torso inspired Michelangelo for his nudes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

The adjoining Round Room (Sala Rotonda) is modeled after the Pantheon. The floor is paved with a magnificent Roman mosaic from the second or early third century AD that depicts various sea monsters and other mythological figures. The floor was discovered in Otricoli, a small town in Umbria. From the same site comes the Otricoli Zeus, a copy of a bust by the Greek sculptor Bryaxis from the fourth century BC. In the middle of the room is a large porphyry basin - the so-called 'bathtub of Nero' - that was found in Nero's Golden House. The niches surrounding the rooms hold a variety of statues. The most impressive is the colossal statue of Hercules in gilt bronze from the 2nd century AD.

Other interesting rooms of the Pio-Clementine Museum include the Gallery of Statues, with a sensual sculpture of a Sleeping Ariadne that was a favorite inspiration for many neoclassical sculptors. The Room of the Animals has an excellent collection of animal statues and mosaics, and the Cabinet of the Masks is named for the mosaics of masks that were integrated in the floor and come from Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli. The Greek Cross Room holds the sarcophagi of Helen (the mother of Emperor Constantine) and her granddaughter Constantina.

The Museo Chiaramonti is named after its founder Pius VII, who was born Luigi Barnaba Chiaramonti. The museum occupies part of the three hundred meter long (about 1000ft) wing that was built in 1807 after a design by Bramante. It holds a massive amount of statuary, including many busts that were used by the Romans as ancestral portraits.

The rest of the gallery is home to the lapidary (Galleria Lapidaria), with a large epigraphic collection that contains more than four thousand inscriptions. Unfortunately this department is closed except by special permission.

The Chiaramonti gallery is followed by the New Wing (Braccio Nuovo), which boasts a magnificent floor made of Roman mosaics. Here you find more Roman statues, including the Augustus of Prima Porta that portrays the Roman Emperor Augustus. The statue was discovered in 1863 at the villa of Livia Augusta.

Another highlight is the colossal personification of the Nile. It shows the river god lying on his side and leaning on a sphinx. At his foot is a crocodile and the god holds a bushel of wheat in his hand, symbol of the fertile ground of the Nile valley that was a result of the river's regular flooding. It is thought that the sixteen infants who crawl over him are a reference to the ideal height of sixteen cubits to which the Nile river had to rise to guarantee fertile soil.

Gregorian Museum of Pagan Antiquities The Gregorian Museum of Pagan Antiquities (Museo Gregoriano Profano) is another museum with Roman and Greek statuary. The museum was established in 1884 by Gregory XVI and contains statues, sarcophagi, reliefs and funerary monuments, most of which date back to the Imperial age (1st and 2nd century AD). The most famous work here is Athena and Marsyas, a copy of the bronze original from the fifth century BC by the Greek sculptor Myron. There are also mosaics of athletes from the Baths of Caracalla and fragments from the Parthenon on display.

Gregorian Etruscan Museum The Etruscan Museum (Museo Gregoriano Etrusco) was founded by Pope Gregory XVI in 1837. It is one of the most important museums of its kind although it is now eclipsed by the National Etruscan Museum in Villa Borghese that was founded after the unification of Italy.

The Etruscan Museum of the Vatican has a particularly fine collection of vases, which show the influence of Greek techniques and decorations on the Etruscans. A notable example is an amphora decorated with the figures of Achilles and Ajax playing dice. Another highlight of the collection is a series of objects found in the Regolini-Galassi tomb at Cerveteri, among them a wooden throne and a carriage from the seventh century BC. The most significant statue is the Mars of Todi, a bronze statue from the fifth century BC.

The Gregorian Egyptian Museum (Museo Gregoriano Egizio) is another museum founded by pope Gregory XVI, who had a keen interest in Egypt. Featuring nine rooms, objects d'art in this museum range from stelae and hieroglyphics from around 2500 BC to Roman replicas of Egyptian statues from the second century AD.

Not to miss here is the collection of mummies and mummy cases from around 1000 BC that were found at the Necropolis of Deir el-Bahri in Thebes. One room in the Egyptian museum contains a reconstruction of Canopus from Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli including the Shrine of Serapis and statues of Egyptian gods.

Vatican Picture Gallery The Vatican Picture Gallery (Pinacoteca Vaticana) is a relatively new museum. It was founded in the late eighteenth century by Pius VI and opened in 1932. The sixteen rooms of the museum contain paintings that range in age from the twelfth to the nineteenth century. Most of the works are from Italian masters but there are also some foreign artists represented. There's even a whole room devoted to the Austrian painter Wenzel Peter.

Among the early highlights is the Stefaneschi-triptych that Giotto created around the year 1300 for the old basilica of St. Peter. Another notable work is a fifteenth-century fresco that depicts the founding of the Vatican Library. The painting by Melozzo da Forlì shows the first librarian kneeling before pope Sixtus IV.

There is also a room dedicated to Raphael which includes the tapestries made by the Flemish artist Pieter van Aelst to cartoons created by Raphael and his students. The tapestries were made to cover the lower walls of the Sistine Chapel. The cartoons are now in the V&A Museum in London. There are also several of Raphael's paintings in this room, including 'the Coronation of the Virgin', which he made when he was only nineteen years old.

Other highlights include Leonardo da Vinci's unfinished 'St. Jerome' (1480), Titian's 'Madonna of the Frari' (1535), Federico Barocci's 'Rest on the Flight to Egypt' (1573) and Caravaggio's Deposition (1603).

The Collection of Modern Religious Art (Collezione d'Arte Religiosa Moderna) features fifty-five rooms. It was established in 1973 by behest of Pope Paul VI and is the largest museum of its kind. It contains works from many of the world's most important modern artists including Dali, Kandinsky, Kokoschka, Le Corbusier, Matisse, Munch, Picasso, Rodin and van Gogh.

Pio Christian Museum The Pio Christian Museum (Museo Pio Cristiano) holds a collection of sculptures, sarcophagi and mosaics from the early Christian era. The museum was established in 1854 by Pius IX. The most famous object here is the statue of the Good Shepherd, created in the third century AD.

Ethnological Missionary Museum Founded by Pius XI in 1926, the Ethnological Missionary Museum features objects of a religious nature from four geographical areas - Asia, Oceania, Africa, and America. Many of the 100,000 pieces in the collection were acquired by missionary workers. The museum was originally housed in the Lateran Palace but was relocated here in 1973. Among the highlights are a statue of the god Quetzalcóatl from Mexico, a mask from Sierra Leone and a wooden sculpture of the deity Tūmatauenga, from French Polynesia.

Vatican Library The Vatican Library (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana) was founded by pope Nicholas V in 1450, when it contained about 340 books. Today it is one of the world's most important libraries with more than half a million books and over 60,000 manuscripts. Some of the most valuable pieces are displayed in the Sistine Hall (Salone Sistino), a magnificent vaulted hall built in 1588 by Domenico Fontana. The eighty meter-long and fifteen meter-wide hall (appr. 260x50ft) is magnificently decorated with colorful wall and ceiling paintings.

The library also houses a number of museums, including the Profane Museum (Museo Profano) and the Sacred Museum (Museo Sacro). The latter holds a number of ancient Christian objects found in Roman catacombs as well as medieval glassware and objects made from precious materials such as ivory and enamel.

Vatican Historical Museum The Vatican Historical Museum (Museo Storico) provides a fascinating look at the long and sometimes turbulent history of the Vatican. The museum was founded in 1973 at the request of pope Paul VI. It was originally located near the Vatican Pinacoteca but in 1991 it moved to the Lateran Palace near the rear entrance of the basilica of St. John Lateran. The museum contains a collection of arms, armor and uniforms of the Papal armed forces as well as portraits of popes and the so-called popemobiles, the carriages and cars used by the popes.

There are plans to move the collection back to the Vatican. In the meantime the museum can only be visited by booking a guided group tour.

Belvedere palace Part of the lure of a visit to the Vatican Museums is the chance to admire the lavish palace complex that houses the museums. The complex was built between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries and served as the main residence of many popes. Several rooms, including the Sistine Chapel, are occasionally still used by the papacy.

Today the pope is mostly a spiritual figure but before the unification of Italy the pope was also the head of a large worldly realm and the Vatican complex reflected their importance as heads of state. The popes hired the world's most renowned architects and artists to decorate their residences, and these decorations, in particular the wall paintings in the private papal apartments, are worth a visit on their own.

Belvedere courtyard: The buildings that accommodate the Vatican Museums' collection comprise of two palaces. To the north is the Belvedere Palace, built in the late fifteenth century as the Villa Belvedere. To the south, adjoining the St. Peter's Basilica is the Apostolic Palace, which has served as the main residence of the popes since their return from Avignon in 1377. The current palace was built in the mid-fifteenth century and replaced an older building from the fifth century.

In the early sixteenth century Bramante connected the two palaces to each other with the construction of two long wings that enclosed a large courtyard, the Cortile del Belvedere. In 1585-1590 a new wing for the library divided the courtyard in two. The lower courtyard is still known as the Cortile del Belvedere while to upper courtyard is known as the Cortile della Pigna (Pine cone courtyard). The addition of the New Wing (Braccio Nuovo) in 1820 created another, smaller, courtyard in the middle: the Cortile della Biblioteca (Library courtyard).

Pine cone courtyard: The library courtyard and belvedere courtyard are not accessible but almost any visitor to the Vatican Museums will get to visit the beautiful pine cone courtyard. The courtyard is named after the huge bronze pine cone that is installed in a large exedra built by Pirro Ligorio.

The pine cone is an ancient fountain that was discovered near the Pantheon and probably belonged to a temple dedicated to Isis. Water used to flow out of the scales. The two bronze peacocks that flank the pine cone are replicas of ancient sculptures that were found in the Mausoleum of Hadrian. The originals are now in the New Wing.

In the middle of the courtyard is a modern bronze sculpture, named 'sphere within a sphere'. It is a creation of Arnaldo Pomodoro that was placed here in the 1990s.

Gallery of Maps: The two long wings that connect the Apostolic Palace with the Belvedere Palace are each about three hundred meters long (close to 1000ft). The east wing houses the aforementioned Chiaramonti Museum, crammed with statuary from the antiquity, and the Lapidary gallery, which is unfortunately not accessible to the public. The west wing is home to three more galleries. The first coming from the Belvedere Palace is the Candelabras Gallery (Galleria dei Candelabri), an eighty meter long (262ft) room with Greek and Roman sculptures. This room leads to the Tapestry Gallery (Galleria degli Arazzi), with tapestries from the fifth to the seventeenth centuries.

The final and longest gallery (175m/600ft) is the Gallery of Maps (Galleria delle Carte Geografiche). The walls of this gallery are decorated with large paintings of maps created by Antoni Danti between 1580 and 1583. His brother Egnazio Dante, an architect and cosmographer, provided the necessary information. The maps show Italian cities, islands in the Mediterranean Sea and papal territories. Ceiling frescoes depict events that took place in these locations.

Rooms of the Apostolic Palace The Renaissance popes commissioned the most talented artists of the era to lavishly decorate their palatial residences. Many of the rooms, including the Borgia Apartments and the Raphael Rooms are open to the public and included in the itinerary of the Vatican Museums.

Borgia Apartments The Borgia Apartments (Appartamento Borgia) are a series of rooms that were converted into private apartments for pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo de Borgia. The pope was a patron of the arts and he called upon Pinturiccio to decorate the rooms with magnificent frescoes. Between 1492 and 1495 Pinturiccio and his pupils painted six of the Borgia rooms. The frescoes depict religious themes (such as the martyrdom of saints and the mysteries of faith) and medieval themes (Trivium and Quadrivium). Most of the rooms are currently used to display a selection of the collection of modern religious art.

Chapel of Nicholas V Often skipped by visitors on their way to the Sistine Chapel but certainly worth a visit is the intimate Chapel of Nicholas V (Cappella di Niccolo V), decorated with wonderful frescoes painted by Fra' Angelico between 1447 and 1449. The frescoes depict scenes in the lives of saints Stephen and Lawrence.

Leo the Great meeting Attila: The Raphael Rooms (Stanze di Raffaelo) were commissioned by pope Julius II who preferred to distance himself from Alexander VI and thus refused to reside in the apartments created for his predecessor. He planned on inviting a variety of renowned master painters to decorate his own private apartments (situated above the Borgia apartments) but after seeing the work of the twenty-five year old painter and architect Raffaello Santi (Raphael), he dediced to instead enthrust the work to him.

From 1508 on Raphael worked on and off on the decoration of the apartments, often distracted by his other work including the construction of the St. Peter's Basilica. Raphael died in 1520, before the frescoes of the papal apartments were complete but his assistants finished the work following his designs. The frescoes are considered absolute masterpieces of Renaissance art.

Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Raphael Rooms, Vatican Museums Battle of the Milvian Bridge The first room is the Constantine Hall (Sala di Constantino), which was painted after Raphael had died by his assistants Giulio Romano and Francesco Penni. It shows scenes from the life of the Roman Emperor Constantine - who made Christianity the official religion - and the triumph of Christianity over Paganism. The 'Battle of the Milvian Bridge' depicts the battle between Constantine and Maxentius, during which the outnumbered army of Constantine crushed the army of Emperor Maxentius by pushing the soldiers into the river.

The next room is the Room of Heliodorus (Stanza di Eliodoro), partly carried out by Raphael between 1512 and 1514. The theme of the room is the divine intervention protecting the church and saints. The room is named after one of the paintings, the 'Expulsion of Heliodorus', which depicts a scene from the bible. On the left are figures depicting pope Julius II, Raphael himself and his pupil Giulio Romano. By the time Raphael painted 'Leo the Great meeting Attila' Julius II had passed away, and as a result his successor Leo X is portrayed twice in this fresco: Raphael initially painted him as a cardinal accompanying Leo I but later Leo X asked one of Raphael's pupils to portray himself as Leo I.

School of Athens, Raphael Rooms, Vatican Museums School of Athens The Room of the Segnatura (Stanza della Segnatura) is named after a special committee that gathered here. Raphael started with this room in 1508 and it is the only room that was completely painted by the master himself. The subject is the harmony between the values of the antiquity and Christianity. It is best known for the 'School of Athens', the most famous fresco painting in the Raphael Rooms. It is particularly acclaimed for its masterful use of perspective. The painting depicts a debate between Plato and Aristotle, two famous Greek philosophers. Many other famous figures from the antiquity are shown, including Euclid, Socrates, Pythagoras and Archimedes. Raphael inserted the portrait of many contemporary figures in the painting. Among them his friend Bramante, the pope Julius II, Leonardo da Vinci and even his rival Michelangelo, who at the time was painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Fire in the Borgo, Stanze of Raphael, Vatican Museums Fire in the Borgo The last of the four rooms is the Room of the Fire (Stanza dell'Incendio), named after one of the frescoes. The room was decorated in 1514-1517 (mostly by Raphael's assistants) during the pontificate of Leo X. He chose the lives of his namesakes Leo III and Leo IV as the theme for the room. The most important fresco is the Fire in the Borgo, which was painted after a sketch created by Raphael. It shows Leo IV extinguishing a fire by making the sign of a cross. The painting draws parallels with scenes from the antiquity by showing Aeneas on the left who carries his father Anchises on his back out of the burning city of Troy.

Loggia of Raphael The Room of Constantine is connected to the Loggia of Raphael, another masterpiece of the artist. Unfortunately the loggia is only accessible by appointment. The loggia is decorated with twelve frescoes that illustrate events from the bible.

Sistine Chapel The most famous attraction in the Vatican Museums is undoubtedly the Sistine Chapel.

The chapel was built in the fifteenth century as a private chapel for pope Sixtus IV. In 1508 pope Julius II asked Michelangelo to repaint the ceiling. Michelangelo, who didn't see himself as a painter, only reluctantly accepted the commission.

Michelangelo decided to decorate the ceiling with nine scenes from the Old Testament. The most famous is the 'Creation of Adam', which shows god descending from heaven to bring Adam to life.

The walls of the chapel are also completely covered with paintings. The most famous of these is The Last Judgment on the altar wall, from the same artist.

Staircase Spiral staircase in the Vatican Museums Spiral staircase Before exiting the museum you have the chance to admire one of the world's most famous staircases.

Designed in 1932 by Giuseppe Momo, the staircase consists of a double helix, one leading up and one leading down. The beautiful bronze staircase is decorated with papal coats of arms.

Source 3:

The Vatican Museums contain masterpieces of painting, sculpture and other works of art collected by the popes through the centuries. The Museums include several monumental works of art, such as the Sistine Chapel, the Chapel of Beato Angelico, the Raphael Rooms and Loggia and the Borgia Apartment. The Pinacoteca, or Picture Gallery, is situated in a building that dates back to 1932 and that was designed by the architect Beltrami. It is connected to the Museum complex (at the entrance of the Quattro Cancelli) by an elegant portico. The Christian, Profane and Missionary-Ethnological Museum contains a collection of artistic and archaeological objects, some of an ethnological nature, that were once housed in the Lateran Palace.

The Collection of Modern Religious Art was added to the Museums in 1973. The History Museum is located in the Lateran Palace and includes, among other things, items that belonged to the Pontifical Military Corps.

The Museums are usually open to the public every weekday morning and in the early afternoon in summer. Entry is free on the last Sunday of every month. The entrance to the Museums is on Viale Vaticano, near Piazza Risorgimento. A Workshop for Restoring paintings, bronzes, marble, tapestries and other items, is part of the Museums which also includes a Scientific Research Laboratory.

Sistine Chapel:

The Sistine Chapel is one of the greatest treasures of the Vatican City. Designed by the brilliant Michelangelo, it is one of the most impressive tourist attractions.

The Sistine Chapel is one of the greatest treasures of the Vatican City, of Rome and of the world in general. It is known as much for its decoration, as for being the temple in which popes are chosen and crowned.

The construction of the building was carried out between 1473 and 1481 during the mandate of Pope Sixtus IV, to whom it owes its current name. The architect responsible for the construction was Giovanni of Dolci and it is the only work that he is remembered for.

What grabs the attention in the Sistine Chapel is not its architecture, but the frescoes that completely cover the walls and the ceiling. Some of the most important artists who worked in the chapel are Botticelli, Perugino, Luca and Michelangelo.

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel All of the frescoes of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel are the work of Michelangelo, who spent four years painting the vault between 1508 and 1512.

If there is one thing that stands out from among the images on the ceiling, it is the nine stories from Genesis that occupy the central area: The scenes from the Drunkenness of Noah to the Separation of Light from Darkness are represented.

The Creation of Adam Without any doubt, The Creation of Adam is the best-known image from the Sistine Chapel. It is located in the central part of the vault and represents the story from Genesis in which God gives life to Adam.

The Final Judgment Located over the high altar and with some magnificent dimensions (13.7 by 12.2 metres), Michelangelo’s other masterpiece, The Final Judgment, is found. It is a fresco that represents the Apocalypse of St. John.

Decorating the apse occupied five years of Michelangelo’s life, between 1536 and 1541. It was an assignment of the Pope Paul III to cover the murals that existed to that point.

References

http://www.vaticanstate.va/content/vaticanstate/en/monumenti/basilica-di-s-pietro/la-piazza.html

https://www.aviewoncities.com/rome/sanpietro.htm

https://www.romesightseeing.net/st-peters-square/

https://www.rome.net/vatican-city