May 19, 2016 - Vatican Museum Garden Tour

The Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel are our main attractions in Rome.  Since there is a Vatican Garden tour (the only way you can see the Vatican Garden), we booked the garden tour which allows self touring the Vatican Museum afterward.  The garden tour guide is from the state of Pennsylvania, we had no problem of understanding her.  She showed us the whole garden in a very relaxed pace.  It is a private urban garden with parks which cover more than half of the Vatican city and is owned by the Pope.  The garden covered approximately 57 acres. 

The attractions include Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of the Watch, Our Lade of Guadalupe, the Eagle Fountain, St Joseph’s Fountain, Shell Fountain, American Garden, Italian Garden, English Garden, French Garden, Square Garden, Kitchen Garden, and Tower of the Winds. It was a pleasant 2 hours walking tour.

After the garden tour, we went into the Vatican Museum and immediately we noticed that there was a huge crowd. The only thing we could do was to follow the crowd moving along in the direction toward Sistine Chapel.  Along the way, we passed through Gallery of the Candelabra, Gallery of Tapestries, Gallery of Maps, Apartment of Pius V, The Immaculate Conception and Sobieski Rooms, Room of the Immaculate, Raphael’s Rooms, Borgia Apartment, Museum of Modern Religious Art and finally got to Sistine Chapel which is the highlight of the whole museum.  Once we were in the Sistine Chapel, we were impressed by the art work on the sides and on the ceiling.  We were lucky to find a couple seats on the side, so we were able to sit and enjoy this world famous wonder.  

The fame of the Sistine Chapel lies mainly in the frescos that decorate the interior, and most important ones are the Sistine Chapel ceiling and The Last Judgment by Michelangelo. Between 1508 and 1512, under the sponsorship of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling, a masterpiece without precedent, that was to change the course of Western art. He returned between 1535 and 1541, and painted The Last Judgment for Popes Clement VII and Paul III.  The fame of Michelangelo's paintings has drawn millions of visitors to the chapel, ever since they were revealed five hundred years ago.

After the visit of Sistine Chapel, we walked to St. Peter's Basilica.  It is a free attraction with a long line.  However, the staffs at the entrance points were not helpful and they kept redirecting us to the other entrance and then told us that it was closed.  After a while, we noticed what they mean 'was closed' for that particular moment due to too many people trying to get in.  All we needed to do was just standing in line as many others, and eventually they would let the next group of crowd to get in.  It took us a while to get into the Basilica which is the largest Basilica in Italy.  

St. Peter’s Basilica is one of the finest Cathedrals in the entire world, St. Peter's is the spiritual center of the Vatican and the product of many of Italy's great Renaissance's architects, among them Bramante, Raphael and Michelangelo. The entire interior of St. Peter's is lavishly decorated with marble, reliefs, architectural sculpture and gilding. There are also a number of sculptures in niches and chapels, including the most famous Michelangelo's Pietà. 

Then, we went up to the top of the dome with a beautiful view of Vatican City and Rome.  By the time we got back down from the top of the dome, it was close to 7PM closing time.  When we stepped into the Basilica again, we found out that there was no crowd at all.  Therefore, we took the opportunity of taking few more photos before we call off the day.