Angels and Demons...Off to see the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel...or not!

Sunday Jan 26, 2014

Today is the last Sunday of the month, and on the last Sunday of the month the Vatican Museums are open to the public free of charge, so it seemed like a good time to try and visit. Maybe not so. When we arrived shortly after 9AM, it appears several 1000 people had the same idea. The lineup was from the Museum entrance all the way down and around the \vatican walls as far as the colonnade at St Peter's Square. It was going to take an hour to an hour and a half just to make it to the doors, then we would have had to contend with the crowds inside and have at best 3 hours to see things, as they close at 2 PM. In the past we have taken anywhere from 4 to 6 hours to tour the buildings. Soooo.....we abandoned that plan and headed straight into St Peter's Basilica, which Rheaume and Cheryl had not been in yet.

Here are some pictures from inside the basilica.

Columns at entrance to St Peter's

Main altar St Peter's

Michelangelo's Pieta

The dome of St Peter's

One of the many papal crypts inside St Peter's - they run the gamut from very plain burials beneath the floor of St Peter's to very elaborate with lots of symbolism - this could be described as one of the average ones

this is one of many large pictures in the basilica - it was originally a painting but has been painstakingly recreated in mosaic - this makes them easier to maintain and the colour remains crisp and vibrant - where a painting would become discoloured and faded

this is a closeup of the foot in the lower left corner above, showing all the little pieces of ceramic that make up the picture. When you are standing in front of it, you do not see this detail - it just looks painted

Then Rheaume and Cheryl made the trek up to the top of the dome where you can get a panoramic view of the city. The weather was holding, the sun was shinning, so a perfect time to go up. Bill and I did not go up, too many stairs - you either can walk up 500 plus stairs or take an elevator part way and walk the last 320 stairs. Rheaume and Cheryl took the latter option. They said that as you got closer to the top the stairwell got narrower and narrower and the steps got shorter and shorter. As it is a dome, the stairwell also followed the curvature of the dome so had an inward tilt to it. It was all enclosed so there was no fear of going over the edge. They set the trek was worth every step they had to climb.

When they got to the base of the dome they were able to look down into the church. Here are a couple of pictures.

Looking down from the base of the dome into the church - this was a service going on behind the big main altar - it gives great perspective on how high above the floor you actually are.

On top of the roof - still 320 stairs to climb to get on top of the dome.

Looking down on to St Peter's square, the colonnade and out to Castel Sant'Angelo

In the center of the picture is the fortified wall that connects the Sistine Chapel to Castel Sant'Angelo

Looking down into the Vatican gardens

While they were gone, Bill and I were talking to one of the guards who said the Pope would be appearing at noon to give his blessing. This was just about the time Rheaume and Cheryl were due down. While we were waiting, there were large crowds of people gathering in one area of the square, many carrying banners that indicated it was probably a peace rally of some type. There were speeches going on and lots of music being played, it was pleasant to just sit in a sheltered spot feeling the sun beat down and listen to all the activities.

While we were standing there outside I kept noticing people giving me some strange looks - do you think this might be why?

Footwear worn by others - more winter like

My choice of footwear - a little too summery maybe?

Rheaume and Cheryl arrived back down just before noon, and we were just heading down from the Basilica, when a cheer went up and we knew the Pope had appeared somewhere. We finally figured out where he was, but could not see him, unless we looked on the jumbo tron. There was a young female who spoke with him as well. We found out later that it was a youth rally for peace and that at some juncture in the address, the Pope and a young girl and boy had released two white doves.

What happened next was fairly disturbing though. No sooner had the doves been released than a crow and a seagull started attacking them. They both seem to have survived, but took a beating in the process. Here are some pictures that were posted on a news feed that show what took place.

After this we headed off to lunch, it rained while we were having lunch, and then the sun broke thru again. We have been very fortunate with our weather. It has not been too cool, the rain, for the most part, has happened overnight, or like today while we are taking a break, so we have been able to wandering around outside a lot.

From lunch we headed back across the river to visit Castel Sant'Angelo. It was initially commissioned by the Roman emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family about 130 AD. The building was later used by the popes as a home, a fortress, a prison, a castle and now a museum. The Castel was once the tallest building in Rome. For devotees of the Dan Brown thriller "Angels and Demons", you will be familiar with this building. Since the 14th century there has been a covered fortified passage at the top of a wall that connects the castle to the Sistine Chapel.