A tiny state, a sacred enclave, a place where you can receive the papal blessing. A photo of any Vatican landmark can convince even the most seasoned tourist to go on a trip. Where to go, what to see in the Vatican and get useful recommendations for a trip here – in this article.
What is the first thing to see in the Vatican?
Even a preliminary review of the top places of this stronghold of Catholicism will not allow you to see everything on your own. A professional guide will help you plan excursions so that you can see the main sights of the Vatican in the allotted time.
1. Apostolic Palace
The official residence of the Pope
The main official residence of the pope is represented by a complex of structures erected at different times. Among them are the most famous sights of the Vatican. If the visit here falls on the weekend, there is a chance to see how the pope addresses the faithful with the prayer “Angelus” and a short sermon from the window of his office. This happens every Sunday, at noon.
Official website: http://www.vaticanstate.va
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2. St. Peter’s Cathedral
St. Peter’s Cathedral is the real heart of the Vatican
Sorting by importance the main attractions of the Vatican, one of the first places should be given to this cathedral. Towering at 136 m, it surprises with its size and design. The magnificent architecture of the cathedral is due to Michelangelo, Bernini, Raphael, Bramante. From the top of the dome, you can enjoy an amazing view of its interior, decorated with statues of saints, monuments and tombstones.
Official website: http://www.vaticanstate.va
3. St. Peter’s Square
Top view of St. Peter’s Square
Even without deciding in advance what to see in the Vatican in 1 day, you will still get here, because the rating of this place with a pink granite obelisk is off the scale. It is in St. Peter’s Square that believers gather in order to receive the blessing of the pope, pray with Catholics around the world or participate in a festive mass.
4. Bernini’s Canopy
The Bernini canopy is a bronze canopy over the altar in the beautiful St. Peter’s Basilica. Petra at the Vatican Jorge Royan
Created by the famous architect Lorenzo Bernini (1624-1633), a special canopy over the altar, called the canopy, is located in St. Peter’s Cathedral in the Vatican. A huge bronze canopy (ciborium), 29 meters high, is installed directly under the round hole in the top of the dome of the cathedral on four twisted columns, on which there are statues of angels. Many decorative elements of the structure glorify the aristocratic family of Pontiff Urban VIII, under whom the canopy was created. Bernini’s masterpiece still amazes all visitors of the cathedral with its luxury and monumentality.
5. Sacred grottoes
One of the tombs in the Holy Grottoes of the Vatican is Abir Anwar
The holy grottoes of the Vatican are located immediately under St. Peter’s Cathedral in the central square of the Catholic state. This is a whole system of catacombs and tunnels, numerous chapels, where there is a tomb with the relics of St. Peter, nobles and rulers of the Vatican.
6. Grotta di Lourdes
Artificial cave Grotta di Lourde Sailko
Not all the interesting places of the Vatican are represented by architectural structures. The construction of this artificial cave, deepened in the Vatican Gardens, began at the dawn of the twentieth century. Today it is a smaller copy of Lourdes Grotto in France. Covered with greenery, it attracts a lot of tourists every day.
7. Sistine Chapel
Interior of the Sistine Chapel dome
Michelangelo’s fresco “The Last Judgment” on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel by Alex Proimos
There is hardly a tourist unfamiliar with this landmark. Whatever the purpose of the trip, this place is a must-visit. In the middle of the XVI century. supplemented by Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment”, the chapel is world famous for its frescoes by the greatest masters: Perugino, Rosselli, Botticelli. Conclaves are being held here today.
Official website: http://www.vaticanstate .
8. Vatican Gardens
The famous Vatican Gardens
In good weather, nature decides what to see in the Vatican. Guides in the Vatican will lead you to this beautifully landscaped botanical park – you will not be able to get here without them. In the XVIII century. fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants were grown here, today the flora on 20 hectares has an exclusively decorative purpose.
Official website: http://www.vaticanstate.va
9. Pinakothek
View from the garden of the Vatican Pinacoteca Sailko
The list of the best attractions of the Vatican includes the museum’s collection of paintings. It was founded in the XVIII century by Pope Pius VI, and the Pinacoteca received a separate building in 1932. The collection of paintings owes its prestige and celebrity to the most famous masters of various eras. In 18 halls, about 400 paintings are arranged in chronological order.
Official website: http://www.vaticanstate.va/
10. Raphael’s Stanzas
Raphael’s Dguendel Stanzas
Considering the sights of Rome, it is worth planning a visit to this place. The 4 palace rooms are entirely painted with frescoes by Raphael from the period 1508-1517. In the hall of Constantine, some of the images were executed after the death of the master by his students. This place deserves the best recommendations from travelers.
11. Villa Pia
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences, located in the Casino di Pio IV Sailko
Dated to the middle of the XVI century, this building was a summer villa for Popes Pius IV and Paul IV. The building is quite beautiful: an oval courtyard, planted with greenery, is surrounded by two pavilions and two covered walkways. Tourists leave the best reviews about statues, frescoes, amazing tiles on the floors.
12. The Pio-Clementino Museum
Pio-Clementino Dguendel Museum of Ancient Art
This museum of ancient art occupies a well-deserved place in the list of attractions of the Vatican. Its halls feature sculptures, mosaics, and sarcophagi. The aim of the creators of the Pius VI and Clement XIV Museum was to store Roman and Greek masterpieces on the territory of the Belvedere Palace. As the collection was replenished, rooms were added to the museum, halls were differentiated by subject, niches were made for the most significant sculptures. Many excursions to the Vatican include a visit to it.
Official website: http://www.vaticanstate.va/
13. Borgia Apartments
The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian – painting in the Hall of Saints in the apartments of the Borgia Pinturiccio
It is difficult to make a detailed description of this Vatican landmark, it is better to see it once. The walls of the apartments, located in the private wing of the Vatican Palace on the floor below the Raphael Stanzas, are painted with unique frescoes. In addition to 6 halls with thematic names, the apartment is complemented by a treasury and a papal bedroom.
Official website: http://www.vaticanstate.va/content
14. Church of Santo Stefano degli Abissini
Church of Santo Stefano degli Abissini @@@@@
Any brief overview of local attractions contains information about this church. What do you think to visit in the Vatican? Come in here! The oldest existing church here is famous for a fresco of the XV century. “The Virgin and Child.” Do not be deceived by the restrained appearance of the facade, decorated on the sides with two antique columns: the interior is very beautiful.
15. The Swiss Guard
Papal Swiss Guard Etxaburu
Today, the guards of the armed forces, the only ones in the Vatican, created at the beginning of the XVI century, participate in diplomatic missions and masses, stand guard at the entrance to the state, near the abodes of the pope and the Secretary of State. They can be seen on all floors of the Apostolic Palace. The impressive appearance of the guards is admired and respected.
The sights of the Vatican: what else to visit in the Vatican
The small state is replete with famous objects. The best hotels in the Vatican are always ready to welcome guests who decide to stay here for a couple of days to see as much as possible.
16. Nikkolina Chapel
Nikkolina Chapel Art Gallery ErgsArt – by ErgSap
This small two-tiered chapel is located in the oldest room of the Apostolic Palace and is rightfully considered a famous landmark of the Vatican. By order of Pope Nicholas V, its walls were painted by the master Fra Beato Angelico. The motifs of the frescoes preserved today on three walls are dedicated to the lives of St. Lawrence and St. Stephen.
17. Gregorian Etruscan Museum
Gold jewelry at the Jean-Pol GRANDMONT Museum
Don’t know where to go in the Vatican during a trip to Italy? This museum definitely deserves attention. At the time of its opening in 1837, the exposition consisted of finds found ten years earlier in southern Entruria during excavations of ancient settlements. Each of the 22 halls is dedicated to individual exhibits. A marble portrait of Athena, a bronze statue of Mars, jewelry, household items are kept here.
Official website: http://www.vaticanstate.va
18. The yard of Pinia
The yard of the Pine cone
When thinking about what to see in the Vatican, be sure to visit the Pinney Courtyard, which unites the Belvedere and Apostolic Palaces. The place got its second name – the Yard of the Pine Cone – because of a 4-meter bronze cone topped with an antique fountain. Its base is decorated with bas-reliefs depicting athletes of Ancient Rome. In 1990, a golden installation in the shape of a ball with a diameter of 4 m was installed in the Courtyard.
19. Candelabra Gallery
Tourists at the Jean-Pol GRANDMONT Candelabra Gallery
The Candelabra Gallery is one of the three famous galleries of the Vatican, located in the wing connecting the Apostolic Palace and the Belvedere Palace. In this eighty-meter Gallery, massive marble candelabra (II century AD) are installed in the side openings of the arcades, which gave the name to the gallery. The Gallery also features ancient sarcophagi and Roman copies of ancient Greek statues created during the Hellenistic period.
20. Arazzi Gallery
One of the tapestries depicting scenes of the Gospel in the Arazzi Gallery in the Vatican daryl_mitchell
In the famous Gallery of Tapestries (Arazzi Gallery), 10 Flemish tapestries on Biblical themes are presented 100 meters away, depicting scenes from the New and Old Testaments, created from drawings by Raphael’s students at the Brussels manufactory of Peter van Alst. The Tapestry Gallery is located in the wing connecting the Belvedere Palace and the Apostolic Palace, just behind the Candelabra Gallery, in front of the Geographical Maps Gallery.
21. Gallery of geographical maps
Wall painting in the form of geographical maps in the Gallery of geographical maps xiquinhosilva
The gallery is a corridor 120 m long and 6 m wide, where a magnificent series of frescoes in the form of 40 geographical maps are located. From floor to ceiling, its walls are covered with images of the former possessions of the Catholic Church and the most important regions of Italy during the era of Pope Gregory XIII.
22. Chiaramonti Museum
Exhibits of the arched gallery of the Chiaramonti xiquinhosilva Museum
What should connoisseurs of antiquity visit in the Vatican? The Chiaramonti Museum, founded at the very beginning of the 19th century, is dedicated to ancient sculpture. It consists of 2 halls and a large gallery in the form of a high arch. Works of Greco-Roman art, more than 3 thousand fragments of inscriptions of pagan and Christian content are exhibited here.
Official website: http://www.vaticanstate.va/conten
23. The Leonine Wall
Leonid’s Wall and St. John’s Tower gugganij
Initially, this ancient fortress structure towered only around the Vatican. After the Saracen attack in 846, the construction of the fortification began. As a result, 13 towers were built to defend against enemy attack. Today, in the oldest part of the Vatican Gardens, you can observe the surviving parts of the wall decorated with Vatican symbols.
24. Vatican Apostolic Library
Sistine Hall of the Vatican Library de:User:Maus-Trauden
Founded in the XV century, the Apostolic Library of the Vatican stores more than 1.5 million books, a myriad of engravings, manuscripts, coins, incunabula. There is a school for teaching librarianship on its territory, and collectible copies are being restored in a local laboratory. The library’s funds are replenished today.
25. Gregorian Egyptian Museum
Ushabti Statuettes of the Gregorian Egyptian Museum by Bj.schoenmakers
The foundation of this museum with a unique collection of archaeological artifacts dates back to 1839. In 9 halls, along with exhibits of ancient Egyptian culture, the finds of ancient Syria and Mesopotamia are presented. There are items made of bronze and clay (IV-II centuries BC), objects of Islamic and Christian ceramics, mummies, painted sarcophagi.
Official website: http://www.vaticanstate.va/
As evidenced by the experience of seasoned travelers, the sights of Italy themselves, in particular, Rome, do not exist without the Vatican. Without visiting this “state within a state”, the impression of the eternal city will be incomplete.
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