The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)

Hi Everyone,

I am back with the second post in the series. This post is about the the 2nd day of The Roman Holiday. On the second day of the trip, we decided to visit The State of Vatican City. Many of you would know that the Vatican City, as it is popularly known, is the smallest state in the world, both by area and population. It is also the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church and the home of the Pope. Also, the marvellous art and architecture of the place attracts a lot of tourists to the place from across the globe.

The tiny state is surrounded by the city of Rome and is demarcated by a wall. Vatican City offers 3 major attractions which are

1. Vatican Museum


2. The Sistine Chapel


3. St. Peter's Basilica

Of the above 3 places, photography is completely banned inside the Sistine Chapel and only partially allowed in the St. Peter's Basilica. And honestly, the insides of the Sistine Chapel are perhaps the most beautiful parts of the Vatican with the entire ceiling of the Sistine Chapel being painted by Michaelangelo himself over a course of 4 years. To say the least, it's the most marvellous piece of art I have ever seen in my life. Photography is banned inside the 500 year old chapel because flash photography destroys the color pigments which the church has managed to preserve for centuries. Simply spectacular!

However, I do have pictures of the Vatican Museum and the St. Peter's Basilica as well as the St. Peter's square to show you. I have a huge photobank out of which I have picked up the choicest few to show you.

Travel Tip: When travelling to Vatican from Rome, take the Line A from Termini and get down at Cipro. Also, if you are a foreigner, I would advise to take up a tour guide to see around the place. The complex is big and it's hard to cover it up all by yourself, especially with a language barrier. Not many people I encountered spoke English! Also, these guides provide you interesting trivia about the place , people and artefacts that can amp up your history learnings.

[caption id="attachment_5711" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5712" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Us!! The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5713" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Walls of Vatican... The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5714" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The top of the St. Peter's Basilica as seen from the terrace of the Vatican Museum.. The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5715" align="aligncenter" width="640"] History learnings!! The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5716" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Candid!! The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5717" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Apollo @ Vatican Museum The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5718" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5719" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Laocoön and His Sons@ Vatican Museum[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5720" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5721" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Mosaic Art! The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5722" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Painted Ceilings! The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5723" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Floor Art with the precious Lapiz Lazuli gemstone The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5724" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Tapestry from another era!! The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5725" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Spellbound! The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5726" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Gorgeous ceilings again! The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5727" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The famous balcony from where the Pope addresses his people.. The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5728" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Outside the St. Peter's Basilica The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5729" align="aligncenter" width="640"] St. Peter's Square The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5730" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Inside St. Peter's basilica The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5732" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5735" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5736" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_5738" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5739" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5741" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5744" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5742" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5743" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5746" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5747" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5748" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City)[/caption]

Hope you enjoy reading through..

See you soon ..

Ka-ciao!

Update : I searched the internet and found a picture of the front wall of the Sistine Chapel. It shows depiction of The Last Judgement by none other than Michaelangelo himself. Symbols, images, metaphors , the wall is is full of pictures each narrating a story and like I said previously, the most gorgeous piece of Renaissance art one would ever get to see. It also has a self-portrait of Michaelangelo as the man in a skin. One can easily estimate how modest he must have been as a human to paint himself like that. Simply marvellous!

[caption id="attachment_5789" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City) The mighty front wall of the Sistine Chapel via Getty Images[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5790" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Roman Holiday - Part 2 (Vatican City) |The Last Judgement by Michaelangelo |Notice the man in the skin towards the bottom right, that's a self portrait of Michaelangelo |Via Getty Images[/caption]