where: Viale Vaticano
getting there: bus 49 stops in front of the Vatican Museums
open: Monday to Saturday 9:00-18:00, closed Sunday
cost: €17 (Skip the Line recommended + €4 online booking fee)
information: wear appropriate clothing, no shorts/mini skirts/sleeveless tops
there is a security checkpoint
definitely NO photos in the Sistine Chapel
website: www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html
It is hard to explain visiting the immense and overwhelming collections that are in the Vatican Museums. The Vatican Palace holds one of the largest art and archaeological collections gathered by Popes over the centuries.
It was founded in the 16th century by Pope Julius II after the discovery of the ancient sculptures of the Laocoön and the Belvedere Apollo. (Pope Julius II commissioned the Sistine Chapel ceiling decoration by Michelangelo and the room frescoes by Raffaello Sanzio known as the Raphael Rooms).
Visiting the museums takes many hours, so make a day of it and enjoy a lunch and a wine in the cafeteria or one of the more expensive restaurants, especially as you will be walking about 7 km during your stay.
The museums house Egyptian mummies, Etruscan sarcophagi and pottery, early Greek and Roman sculpture (some from Hadrian's Villa), mosaics and glassware, early Christian inscriptions from the catacombs and ancient cemeteries of Ostia, Porto and Rome.
The Vatican Picture Gallery holds a huge collection of priceless artworks by Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.
Access to the Sistine Chapel is through the museums at the end of the tour.
Highlights include a visit to the Borgia Apartments by Pinturicchio, the Apartments of Pius V by Giorgio Vasari, the Raphael Rooms by Raphael, the Hall of Maps and the Hall of Tapestries.
Artists in the Pinacoteca Vaticana
Giotto
Beato Angelico
Perugino
Raphael
Leonardo
Caravaggio
Pietro da Cortona
Bernini
Filippo Lippi
Titian
Ludovico Carracci
Domenichino
Guercino
Guido Reni
Orazio Gentileschi
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