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Published: June 16th 2017
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01 The Vatican
St Peters at the end of the street. Geo: 41.9023, 12.4581
Apparently everyone has to see the Vatican, regardless of how religious you are. So this morning I got up early (9am) and caught the bus to the Vatican. Walked down the street towards St Peter's. Came to the Piazza San Pietro which was designed by Bernini. From the outside, the church didn't look as big as I expected it to. The dome didn't seem that large either, even though it is one of the largest in the world. The Vatican has its own postal system, so I sent a few postcards from here. I joined the really long line to enter St Peter's. Twenty minutes later I was in the church. Seemed much larger now that I was inside it. In here there is a lot of precious art, 11 chapels, 45 altars. The dome was designed by Michelangelo and most of the decoration in the church was done by Bernini, who was a favourite with the popes. Here I saw Michelangelo's Pieta sculpture, the huge Baldacchino by Bernini, Bernini's last piece of work- a monument to Pope Alexander VII, as well as other works.
I left the church and entered through the side and went into the
02 St Peters Square
Designed by Bernini. Hall of Tombs, were the popes are buried. It is directly under the church.
Then I walked along the Vatican city walls and came to the Vatican Museums, well I came to the line for the museums. 40 minutes later I was at the museums. The main attraction here is the Sistine Chapel, to get here you must first walk past everything else, there is no short cut. First room I came to was the Room of the Animals. Which was full of animal sculptures. Past a few statues, than came to the Egyptian collection. Saw a few mummies. Came to the Gallery of Maps. The walls on both sides of this room were maps of different parts of Italy. I like the paintings of the maps. The walls of all the rooms were elaborately painted. Walked through the Rapheal Rooms, which were the private apartments of Pope Julius II. It took him over 16 years to paint these rooms.
Then I finally came to the Sistine Chapel. I was expecting it to be smaller considering it is a chapel. I managed to take a few photos in here before being told off. The ceiling is entirely painted by
03 All the popes
All the popes through time. Michelangelo and so is the altar. The walls were painted by him and also some other painters. It was really crowded in there and hard to enjoy it. Saw some more paintings, including Raphel's last painting 'The Transifiguraion', which is incomplete. The Vatican's large art collection is due to some pope's liking art work and collecting it, there is so much here, must be worth a fortune.
Walked to the Piazza del Popolo. Here there are two churches, virtually identical. In the middle of the piazza there is a huge obelisk that is covered in advertising for the new Superman movie! Went into the Santa Maria del Popolo. In here there were some Bernini sculptures, Caravaggio paintings, lots of skeletons and a chapel designed by Raphel. Next to the church was the entrance to the city, a 16th century gate. Walked to the nearby crowded Spanish Steps. Then went to Sant'Andrea delle Fratte. In here I saw Bernini's Angels which sit on either side of the altar.
Went to the forum area and saw Trajan's Markets, they are really big. On the way to the Colossuem I saw Miriam waiting for the bus! How weird to bump into someone
04 Monument
Bernini's last piece of work, a monument to a pope. I know in a huge city. We went for a walk, past Marcello Theatre. Saw the Fontana delle Tartarughe, a cute fountain of four men helping turtles up to the water.
We then made plans to catch up the next day and I caught the bus back to the hostel.
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