Rome: The Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica (May 5 and 6)

We arrived at the Vatican about an hour before our reserved entry time, so we walked around St. Peter’s Square for a bit. The building near the basilica on the south colonnade provided an exhibit on the history of the Vatican State to mark its 80th anniversary. A very helpful overview was provided by a scale model of Vatican City. It was interesting to see the original Lateran Treaty with Italy, signed by Mussolini, (usually kept in the Vatican Archives and never seen before)and one of the earlier papal vehicles. The passenger cabin included a piece of folded upholstery that could have been a seat, a kneeler, or both.

We had hoped that the museum Pio Christiano would tell us more about the pre-Constantine Christians, but that was not the case. There were some of the grave markers from the Catacombs but these were not placed in a context we could easily understand.
For our next move we decided to head directly for the Sistine Chapel. It was a long walk and for much of the way unintentionally as part of tour groups, or through and around them. Once we arrived at the Sistine Chapel it didn’t matter that it was crowded because crowds do not block your view of the ceiling. We enjoyed about an hour of observing and appreciating Michelangelo’s great work until our necks were tired. Photography of any type was not allowed, so we have no pictures of something you have already seen in pictures.

After appreciating the Chapel, it was close to closing time for any other museum exhibits, so we went into the Basilica, where awe is inspired no matter what direction one looks. We were able to spend some length of time up close to Michelangelo’s Pieta, and then joined the queue to observe Pope John XXIII’s corpse, pale but not decaying, which is why it is on display in the first place. With time enough to check things out a bit, we learned that services were scheduled soon, so we stayed for Mass (in a combination of Italian and Latin). It was beautiful and we were very glad we had stayed for it. We found the altar particularly beautiful.