Accessing America: Vatican City....Amazing!

Vatican city has by far been my favorite thing to see. All the history and art combined. It was overwhelming. So many things I had only dreamed of seeing I actually got to see! It took an entire day to go through, my feet were killlling me by the end. We started with seeing St. Peters square and deciding the line was too long to go into the basilica first, we figured most people would do that first so we did it in reverse. Museum and then basilica. The pictures are roughly in order.

St. Peter's Square.

The ceilings were amazing on their own. All of them decorated and painted and carved out so elaborately.

Me in the hall of maps.

One of Raphael's rooms. He had a series of rooms that he painted. I think they were previously Papal apartments.

Even the window shutters were elaborate.

I was absolutely appalled that pictures were not aloud in the Sistine Chapel. I took one anyway by holding my camera way down. Unfortunately my forehead is in the shot too. Proof I was there I guess! It was unbelievable though. To be in the room that Michaelangelo spent so long painting.

Raphael painting.

These pictures are of the angel models that Bernini did before the final throne of St. Peter was made that is now at the back of St. Peter's Basilica. It replaced the actual chair of St. Peter which had been deteriorating. These models are important because they show the process of his work because you can see the underlying structure of each angel. I think this was my favorite part of the museum. Even though they are falling apart they are amazing.

This spiral ramp/stairs was at the exit of the museum.

St. Peter's Square.

Swiss Guards talking to a nun. We found this hysterical at the time.

Front of St. Peter's

The Square which is actually a circle.

Inside St. Peters looking at the Altar. This is the largest basilica in the world.

One thing I have been dying to see is Michaelangelo's Pieta. The church I grew up going to had one of only 2 full scale replicas made of the Pieta. The models were made to test how the actual Pieta would travel across an ocean. My church ended up with one of the models.

They have a bunch of dead popes everywhere with glass coffins. They had silver masks of some kind on their faces but the bodies were still there. Very strange.

Altar

Underneath the Altar is the tomb of St. Peter.

The throne of St. Peter made by Bernini, it's mentioned earlier with the photos of the Angel models.

After going through the Basilica, which took at least an hour to see everything, we went beneath the altar to the Papal tombs. I was able to see the tomb of Pope John Paul II and the tomb of St. Peter. It was surreal to say the least. No pictures aloud though.

After the Papal tombs we went up to the top of the Dome. We could go inside and walk around and then all the way to the top on the outside. We took the lift part of the way and then walked the rest. It was exhausting. At one point you have to walk at an angle because of the dome shape.