2017 - Rome, Italy - Day 5

Day 5, December 1, 2017 – Rome, Italy

We’re up and ready, leaving our apartment at 7:15 for the half-an-hour hike to the Vatican Museum for our three-hour tour of the museum, the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica of Saint Peter.  My goodness … it certainly is something to see and learn about!

The Vatican Museum … This museum is actually a collection of museums and rooms located within the city (and national) boundaries of the Vatican City. It is considered one the world’s greatest collection of art, with over 14 rooms filled with paintings, sculptures and other works of art collected by Popes throughout the centuries. The museum, founded by Pope Julius II in the 16^th century, contains about 70,000 works, employs about 650 people and is visited by nearly 6 million people every year … that’s close to 20,000 people per day on average. Imagine that! Glad we’re here in December … it’s pleasantly quiet this a.m.

We didn’t explore every room but a few that we saw were:

* The Egyptian museum containing original Greek works and Roman sculptures from the first through third centuries A.D.

·        * The Gallery of Tapestries is a very long hallway with large tapestries along both side walls put on exhibit in 1838.

·       *  Raphael’s rooms have a fascinating history because Pope Julius II (1503-1513) did not want to live where his predecessor lived, so he moved to another floor where a different famous artist, Raphael, painted four of the rooms depicting scenes of various historical facts or visions. It’s quite an amazing site to see all four walls of a room, and sometimes even the ceiling, with very ornate, excessively detailed and busy larger-than-life sized paintings that tell a story created by the artist!

·       *  The Gallery of Maps consists of another long hallway with enormous fresco maps along each wall painted between 1580 and 1585. The accuracy of these maps of Italy is quite remarkable.

·        * And it’s impossible to take in the most beautifully painted and/or designed ceilings, many with gold gilding, the thousands of statues of individuals, animals or a groups of people/angels, etc., every where you look, beautiful paintings in the archways above doors, the ornate mosaic floors dating back centuries; the very large water basins made from a single very heavy piece of basalt brought to Rome centuries ago from Egypt … unbroken!  So many talented artists that have used their gift for the Gory of God.

Next …

The Sistine Chapel … We were able to quietly enjoy the Sistine Chapel in all its magnificence. The name comes from Pope Sixtus IV, who restored the building, first built as a defense against the various rulers of Italy and the Pope and against the Turks who were threatening the western coast of Italy at the time. He dedicated it to Our Lady of the Assumption on August 15, 1483.   It was used for Papal activities, but today it is the site of the Papal conclave when selecting a new Pope.  The walls have large, elaborate paintings depicting the life of Moses on one side, Jesus Christ on the other, both seen as liberators of humanity.  Of course, we know of Michelangelo’s masterpiece, the fresco on the vault of the Chapel, taking four years of hard work to complete, marking the history of mankind before the coming of Jesus. Fourteen years later Michelangelo painted the “Last Judgement” on the entire front wall, a remarkably detailed painting of mankind’s inevitable fate and God as the absolute judge of man’s destiny.  Of course there are also many other paintings around the Chapel … books have been written about all of them and it would take weeks of contemplation to really absorb all of it.  We have been so Blessed to see this gorgeous masterpiece, if only for a little while.  Sorry … no pictures allowed!

Dome of Saint Peter's Basilica

St. Peter’s Basilica … Our guided tour ends in the largest church in the world.  It took almost eighteen centuries to build, which has lead to a unique building because of the changing historical and cultural environment throughout that time. There are 284 columns with 140 statutes of saints that were executed for their faith just along the outside portico, designed by Bernini, arranged “… to give an open-armed welcome to Catholics, confirming their faith, to heretics, joining them with the Church and to infidels, enlightening them about the True Faith.” (Bernini)  The square holds about 200,000 people

Saint Peter's Basilica

The details of the dome of the basilica, the front façade, the front doors and the interior are
incredible with too many details to describe here.  But some of the highlights for me were:  The dome is the highest point in the cities; and out of respect, nothing can be built higher than it. Walking down the nave are the markers on the floor comparing the lengths of the other great churches in the world. (New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral could fit inside of St Peters)

Main aisle of the Basilica

Canopy over  St Peter's Tomb

Michelangelo’s “Pieta” is in the first chapel … another one of his great masterpieces that was sculpted when he was only in his 20s. Then there’s the Tomb of Gregory XIII (1572-1585) and the Tomb of Pope Saint John Paul II, as well as many statues of influential people and saints throughout the Church’s history. The Papal altar in the middle of the church is surmounted by a gilded bronze canopy with four colossal, spiraling columns that are ornately decorated. Directly underneath the altar is the Tomb of Saint Peter where the apostle is buried, a fact that has recently been validated with archaeological evidence. We did spend some time in the Adoration Chapel … I felt so honored to say the Rosary here today.

Michelangelo's Pieta

Tomb of Pope Saint John Paul II

After leaving here we took the hop-on, hop-off bus to the other side of the City to visit yet another one of the four major Basilicas in Rome …

Basilica of Saint John Lateran

Basilica of Saint John Lateran (San Giovanni in Laterano) … This church, considered one of the most beautiful in Rome, was built by Constantine the Great in the early 300s and is the most ancient Catholic church in the world. But its history also consists of pillage and damages by earthquakes and fires over the centuries, with the current structure completed in the 1700s.  Because the pope is also the bishop of Rome, Saint John Lateran, being the seat of the bishop’s residence, is also Rome’s Cathedral and is dedicated to John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. The papal altar is at the end of the center aisle where only the Pope can offer Mass. I was most intrigued by the exquisite vaulted ceiling and very large statues of each of the apostles that are located on either side of the center aisle. As with many of the other churches, the long main aisle with two side aisles, the many side altars with their ornate and detailed pictures and/or statues and the beautiful special area specifically for the Pope in this church.  Above the altar is a fragment of the table of Jesus’ last supper, plus Jesus’ blood is hosted there, brought to Rome by centurion Longino. This was another truly remarkable church!

Simon the Apostle

Main altar at St. John Lateran

The Assumption of Mary
above the altar at the NAC

After doing a little shopping, then coming back to the Vatican, we met Deacon Colin again and walked to the Pontifical North American College where he is a student and prayed vespers with him in their beautiful chapel, which is dedicated Assumption of Mary. After that we had a most delicious dinner at his favorite restaurant and then said our good-byes, as we will not see him again, probably, until his ordination next May!  What a beautiful gift he has given us, allowing us to experience Rome on a very personal level.

It’s been a long, but very enjoyable and educational day.  We even get to sleep in a bit tomorrow! Good night.