(A multi-part recap of my mid-April to early May Italy trip.)
As someone raised in the Catholic faith and whose son was now a priest, there was no way I was going to Rome and not visiting the Vatican. So the twentieth and final day of my Italy trip was dedicated to seeing the epicenter of Catholicism - Vatican City. Not only did my friend Kim and I plan to tour the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Vatican Museum, we also had tickets to the pope's Wednesday Audience.
Early morning at St. Peter's Square
Every Wednesday morning, when the pope is in town, he holds a general audience in St. Peter's Square. This audience gives visitors in Rome a chance to see and pray with the pope. The Papal Audience is not a Catholic mass, rather it consists of a Bible reading followed by a short speech, or homily, by the Holy Father. It ends with the pope bestowing a blessing upon the assembled audience. The Wednesday Audiences were generally well attended, filling St. Peter's Square with as many as 50,000 people.
St. Peter's Basilica
After being on the go for twenty grueling days throughout Italy, Kim and I both found it difficult to wake up early that morning. We were plumb toured out. It was so tempting to sleep in and blow off the Wednesday Audience and today's scheduled tour.
But - we had a chance to see the pope! How often does one get that opportunity? Tired and worn out as we were, Kim and I knew this was something we'd regret missing. So we both drug ourselves out of bed and made ready for another busy day.
Long security line
The Vatican was a fair distance from our hotel. That and the threat of rain had Kim and I calling a cab for our morning transport. But learning from yesterday's bad experience, this time we made sure the driver took credit cards. Off we sped through Rome's heavy rush hour traffic, our taxi dodging vespas and worming through congested streets. In no time at all, the cabbie was dropping us off at Via della Conciliazione, a wide avenue leading in to St. Peter's Square.
Rows of empty chairs
Due to the pope's Wednesday Audience, this street was entirely closed for several blocks. We could see the tall dome of St. Peter's Basilica and the obelisk in St. Peter's Square rising at its very end. Following these landmarks along a deserted roadway Kim and I came to the famous square. Fenced off for the occasion, we were directed to either side of the square to pass through security. Long lines of people stretched out from each checkpoint.
Finding a seat in our section
We had been advised to arrive two hours early for the Wednesday Audience, and although there were lines, Kim and I breezed quickly through security. Entering into St. Peter's Square, I gaped at the tall obelisk in the center, the two decorative fountains on either side, and the rows of colonnades that lined this massive square. The plaza itself was a sea of gray plastic chairs, occasionally interrupted by wide aisles. At yesterday's orientation it had been suggested to position yourself next to an aisle if you wanted to get a good view of the pope because his popemobile would be traveling down these lanes. (We'd also heard that the pope liked to stop and bless the babies in the audience so parents usually hung out there.) The only problem was most of these areas weren't yet open to the public. We were being directed to the only open section at the time, and all its aisle seating was already occupied. Oh well, Kim and I were fairly close to the stage where the pope would address the crowd. We chose two seats in the middle of our section and settled in for the long wait.
Seats filling in
Surprisingly, I found the wait wasn't too bad. There was plenty to see. I gaped at the facade of St. Peter's Basilica. We were so close the dome wasn't visible, so I studied all the ornate marble statues that lined its roof. Then I took in the massive rows of columns lining both sides of St. Peter's Square. The tops of these colonnades were also adorned with statues of 140 saints. I later read this famous plaza had been designed by the architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini and constructed between 1656 and 1667.
Statues on top of the basilica
Crowd milling around
It wasn't long before the crowds of people began pouring in. The seating sections behind us began to fill up. There were people of all ages and nationalities. I could hear many different languages spoken. Some large groups were all dressed in identical color t-shirts, or wearing the same hats. Many carried large banners, advertising where they were from. It was a festive atmosphere.
I'm here!
Seats filling in behind us
While passing the time, I took a 360 degree video view of St. Peter's Square. Take a gander if you're interested in what this massive plaza looks like during a Wednesday Audience.
I noticed the chair in front of me had some amusing holy graffiti scratched into it.
Graffiti on the chair in front of me
About a half hour until the audience was to begin, various announcers began welcoming groups from all over the world, in their native languages. The groups applauded when their names were read. Finally, travelers from the U.S. began to be called out, and there were many groups from throughout the country. Kim and I were amused when they mentioned the Diocese of Portland. Were there others from our city here, or were they just referring to us? We'd never know - but it didn't stop Kim and I from cheering for ourselves!
He's here!
Then the announcements stopped. A sense of anticipation rose from the crowd. Upbeat music began playing from the sound system. Everyone began cheering - the pope was coming! The popemobile was spotted entering the far end of St. Peter's Square. Then the Holy Father himself was projected onto the large video screens scattered throughout the plaza. My first glimpse of Pope Leo XIV! It was so exciting!
It's Pope Leo!
The crowd went wild. Everyone around me held up their cell phones, hoping to score a photo of the Holy Father. When visibility became obscured by arms in the air, people began standing on top of their chairs. I couldn't see a thing, so I gave in and carefully stepped atop my chair. The view was much better - I could now make out the top of the popemobile and track where it was going. Then the popemobile began winding down a nearby aisle. With phone in hand, I zoomed as close as possible and snapped away.
Blessing a baby
Lucky for me, the pope stopped not far from where I stood. I zoomed my phone camera on his white hat and fired away. Happily I got some good shots of Pope Leo himself. What a thrill to see our first American pope! I admired the man and really, really liked his message. A good ambassador for the Catholic faith, I felt Pope Leo was a voice of reason and hope in today's troubled world.
Blessing another baby
The pope took his time as his entourage traveled through the adoring crowd. It appeared he tried to drive down each and every aisle, occasionally stopping to bless a baby. Many parents with babies had placed themselves along the aisles for this very reason. The pope's security team would locate an infant, take it from its waiting parents, and hand it to the pope to bless. Such trust! (But if you can't trust the pope, who can you trust?)
Waving to the crowd
Used to the somber mood of a Catholic mass, I'd expected this event to be solemn and religious toned. But the atmosphere was surprisingly lighthearted and joyful. The crowd cheered loudly and raucously. Everyone was was in a good mood - who wouldn't be? We were all meeting the pope! Instead of religious hymns, a nearby orchestra was playing a selection of peppy pop tunes, which were broadcast over the sound system. To Kim and I's amusement the song "Dancing Queen" by ABBA came on. (After visiting the ABBA Museum in Stockholm last year, this song had become one of our favorites.) It seemed a funny choice for a papal audience, but maybe the song was one of Pope Leo's favorites too?
A sea of cell phones
After touring around the crowd for a good half hour, blessing babies as he went, Pope Leo arrived at the stage area in front of St. Peter's Basilica. The popemobile drove right up the steps and deposited Pope Leo at the top. After being escorted out of his vehicle, the Holy Father settled into a large chair under a canopy. He was flanked by two cardinals and a unit of colorful Swiss guards stood at attention on either side. A few dozen cardinals were seated to the pope's right, while a large group of newly married couples were seated to his left.
The program begins
Once Pope Leo had settled into his chair, the crowd quieted almost immediately. Everyone sat back in their seats, put their cell phones away, and made ready to hear the pope's message. After experiencing such pandemonium during the pope's entrance, I was surprised by the speed at which the crowd calmed down.
Pope Leo addressing the crowd
The program began with a short reading of a passage from the Bible. Now several months later, I don't remember the exact one. I think the first speaker read it in English (or maybe they started in Italian?) and then subsequent people stepped up to the podium to repeat the message in ten different languages. That took a bit of time to get through every language, but the crowd was courteous and remained quiet throughout each speaker's turn.
After the address, Pope Leo greeted all the cardinals
After the reading, it was Pope Leo's turn to address the crowd. He first gave his message in Italian. Even though I didn't understand a word he said (except maybe "amore") I was enthralled listening to him speak. After the Italian version of the pope's address was finished, another speaker repeated it in their native tongue. Then it was recited by a different speaker in yet another language. After that, Pope Leo stepped back up to the podium and repeated his address in English. I sat there spellbound by his words. It was an indescribable feeling being in St. Peter's Square listening to the pope speak. Unfortunately I was so overcome by the moment, I don't remember a word of what he said. Kim to the rescue - she recorded the entire address on her phone. (And I later discovered each and every one of Pope Leo's Wednesday Audiences can be found on YouTube. Here's the video for the one I attended below:)
We hung around and watched for awhile
After the English rendition, Pope Leo launched into a third version of his address in Spanish. This man was amazing - I couldn't imagine having to give a speech in three different languages!
Yahoo, we saw the pope!
After the pope's address was repeated in all ten languages by several speakers, Pope Leo again took the podium. He led the crowd in praying the "Our Father" in Italian. Then he extended a blessing to everyone in the audience and said if we had any religious items with us they were also blessed. I carried the rosary I'd purchased for my son in Assisi, so it got blessed by the pope.
St. Peter's Square emptying out
And with that, the ceremony was over. People began streaming out of the seating area, while the cardinals all lined up to greet Pope Leo. Still beaming from the good vibes of this uplifting event, Kim and I weren't yet ready to leave such a joyful atmosphere. So we remained in our seats for several minutes watching the pope shake hands with the cardinals. What a wonderful way to spend our morning. Boy was I glad we didn't sleep in and miss this!
Lines to leave the square
Once the area cleared a bit, Kim and I decided it was time to leave. Not only had things wound down, and we were tiring of watching the pope greet cardinals, we were both hungry and desperately needed to use the restroom. (Although there were restrooms at St. Peter's Square, they weren't close to our seating area. Besides with so many people, I'm sure the lines were astronomically long!)
Dome of St. Peter's Basilica
So Kim and I walked back past the rows of now-empty chairs, through the security area, and onto the wide street behind St. Peter's Square. Wandering down one of the side streets, we came upon a charming little restaurant that had just opened for the day. We quickly claimed a table, took turns visiting the WC, and ordered drinks and food. After all the excitement of seeing the pope that morning, it was nice to sit in a quiet place and chill. And the food was mighty tasty too!
Enjoying lunch
For the afternoon agenda, I'd booked a guided tour of the Vatican, including the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. After finishing up lunch, Kim and I navigated our way through the busy streets of Vatican City, to find our tour's meet-up place.
Lots of shops catering to clergy
Since priests and nuns from around the world made pilgrimages here, I discovered the streets surrounding the Vatican were full of shops catering to these members of the clergy. Several stores sold priestly vestments. Many more displayed ornately decorated metallic items, such as chalices, crosses, and candle holders, all used for Catholic worship.
This one sold all sorts of metal items
I'd booked our Vatican tour with the same company we'd used the prior day to visit the Colosseum. After meeting up with our guide (a young lady whose name I've now forgotten) and two other couples, our group of six was led towards the end of a fairly long entrance line snaking around the Vatican's tall walls. As we'd done with every museum in Italy, admission meant going through a security check - metal detector and bags x-rayed. After three weeks in the country, Kim and I were now very much used to this routine.
The line to tour the Vatican
Continuation of the Vatican entrance line
The first stop in our afternoon tour was the Vatican Museum. A series of galleries displaying works from the immense collection accumulated by the Catholic Church and popes throughout the centuries, these were the public museums of Vatican City. This monster complex housed 24 different galleries containing 70,000 works, of which only 20,000 were on display. Founded in the early 16th century, this museum featured several well-known Roman sculptures and many of the most important Renaissance art masterpieces in the world. I was surprised to learn the Vatican Museums ranked second on the list of most-visited art museums in the world (after the Louvre.)
Courtyard of the Pinacoteca
Of course there was no way our tour could cover everything there was to see in this massive museum complex in a single afternoon, so our guide tried to hit some of the highlights. We began our tour in large courtyard, called the Courtyard of the Pinacoteca. This plaza was surrounded by a large, colorful building, which I later learned housed the Vatican Picture Gallery.
Pine Cone sculpture dominates the courtyard
After a bit of instruction and history from our guide (which I've now since forgotten) she took us to another courtyard dominated by a large, bronze sculpture of a pine cone. This Pinecone Courtyard was designed in the 16th century at the request of Pope Julius II. The pine cone was chosen as the main sculpture because it represented immortality and rebirth in ancient times. (However, I thought it was a weird type of artwork to have in the Vatican.)
Statues and marble columns
After breezing through the Pinecone Courtyard, our guide led us into a third and final open plaza, the Octagonal Courtyard. This courtyard was where some of the most well-known ancient classical statues in the papal collection were first displayed. Its octagonal shape was designed by Michelangelo in the 1700s.
Laocoön and His Sons
One of the most famous of all the statues in this courtyard was one featuring three men being attacked by snakes. Called Laocoön and His Sons, this marble statue was discovered in a nearby vineyard in 1504. The Pope at that time (Julius II) purchasedthe sculpture and one month later put it on public display at the Vatican. This statue is thought to have been the first piece of art in the Vatican Museum's now vast collection.
I liked this sculpture - but couldn't find its name
There were other famous statues in this courtyard, but the one I liked best was a whimsical bust of a man with an unusually large mouth. After a bit of research I never did find out if this sculpture had a name.
Pio Clementino Museum
After spending time outside it was time to enter some of the interior rooms of the Vatican Museum. From the Octagonal Courtyard, we were led into the Pio Clementino Museum. This particular museum was a series of rooms displaying sculptures, many of which had been part of Pope Julius II's original collection. And oh was it crowded!
Hall of the Chariot
One of the many sculpture-filled rooms our group saw was a sunny chamber full of brilliant white marble statues. At its center sat a large marble chariot pulled by two horses, the namesake of this room - the Hall of the Chariot. Completed in 1795, the statues in this hall all depicted scenes from athletic competitions.
Belvedere Torso
Worming our way through the crowded corridors, our guide led us to an area called the Hall of the Muses. Amongst a series of sculptures portraying famous Greek men dating from the time of Emperor Hadrian, was a broken portion of a male torso. Called the Belvedere Torso, this work was thought to be from the second century BC. Acquired by the pope in the mid 1500's, it was greatly admired by the artist Michelangelo. Legend had it that Pope Julius II asked the famous artist to complete the statue by adding arms, legs and a face. Michelangelo declined stating that the statue was too beautiful to be altered.
Sculpted urns
Oh there was so much to see! Sculptures lined every wall - it was impossible to spend time at each one, there were so many. I snapped a few photos as our group hurried on.
Beautiful mosaic floor
The floors were all made of lovely decorative marble, arranged in colorful patterns. I almost felt bad walking across them. However, there was one floor section with a gorgeous inlaid mosaic. Thankfully, it had been roped off and I was happy to admire this artwork from behind the barrier.
Unknown sculpture
Painting of a pope election?
Our group then passed through a long, narrow corridor. It had a beautiful ceiling full of paintings and its walls were lined with a series of archaic maps. This was the Gallery of Geographical Maps - forty cartographical representations of the Italian territories. At the request of Pope Gregory XIII, a large group of artists labored for two years, between 1578 and 1580, to create a detailed sequence of maps covering the entire Italian peninsula. The ornate ceiling was painted with scenes from the Old Testament. I thought this particular hall was quite interesting, seeing how accurate these early mapmakers were. And the colorful maps were absolute works of art.
The Gallery of Geographic Maps
Room of the Immaculate Conception
Beyond the marvelous map gallery we entered a room covered floor-to-ceiling with stunning paintings. This was the Room of the Immaculate Conception. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, this ornate gallery was the brainchild of Pope Pius IX, who commissioned an artist named Frances Podesti. Podesti worked tirelessly between 1856 and 1865 to plan and create the magnificent frescoes and other ornate elements of this museum addition.
Painting details
Beyond this, our group was led into four of the most important rooms in the Vatican Museum - the Raphael Rooms. Judging by the hordes of people that crowded into each one, this was where some of the most famous paintings were located. Originally used as the papal apartment in the early 1500's, Pope Julius II commissioned Raphael, then a young artist, to entirely redecorate the interiors.
One of the Raphael Rooms
Between 1508 and 1520, Raphael and his assistants covered the walls of these four rooms with several magnificent frescoes. After Raphael's death in 1520, the largest room was finished by his assistants. Some of the most famous works included the Deliverance of St. Peter, showing how St. Peter was freed from prison by an angel, and the School of Athens, honoring the most famous philosophers of ancient times. (Raphael even snuck a self-portrait in the painting's far right corner.)
Even the ceilings had paintings
Every inch of wall space in these four rooms was covered with intricate, colorful paintings. It was a visual treat for the eyes. There were so many details, and so much going on in each one, it was difficult to take it all in. The crowds of people and short amount of time spent in each room didn't help. Nor did the flags that many of the tour guides held above their heads, which seemed to get in the way of every photo I tried to take.
Deliverance of St. Peter
School of Athens
Besides the Gallery of Geographical Maps and the Raphael Rooms, one of my favorite parts of the Vatican Museum was the Gallery of the Tapestries. Beyond the Raphael Rooms was another long hallway, its walls covered with enormous, intricately-woven tapestries. This collection of eight tapestries depicted episodes from the life of Christ. Based on drawings from Raphael's pupils, each was created by an expert weaver in Brussels between 1524 and 1531. The details in each of these tapestries were incredible. They looked like paintings!
My favorite were the tapestries
Beyond the tapestry hall, our guide led us down several sets of stairs and through another corridor until arriving at a large door. Inside, she told us, was the world-renowned Sistine Chapel, the pope's personal church, and the location of the conclave when new popes were elected. Built between 1473 and 1481, this humble chapel contained some of the greatest works of art ever created. Pope Sixtus IV commissioned a team of Renaissance painters to create a series of frescoes to line the chapel walls depicting the life of Moses and the life of Christ, along with papal portraits. Between 1508 and 1512, Pope Julius II had Michelangelo adorn the ceiling with some of the most famous frescoes of all time. Michelangelo painted the chapel's ceiling with paintings depicting the history of the world before the birth of Jesus. In 1535, at the request of another pope, Michelangelo returned and painted The Last Judgement on the wall behind the altar. When this masterpiece was unveiled to the public in 1541, it created a sensation.
To prepare her group for what we were about to see, our guide gave each duo a laminated guide to the famous frescoes inside this chapel. Unfortunately for me, photography was not allowed in the Sistine Chapel, so I'm going to do my best to describe what I saw.
The tapestries were amazing works of art
When Kim and I stepped into the Sistine Chapel, it was wall to wall people inside. We wormed through the crowds and made our way to the front. There on the wall behind the altar stood Michelangelo's masterpiece, The Last Judgement. Words cannot describe this amazing work of art. The colors and detail shown in this fresco were jaw-dropping. Depicting Judgement Day, Christ was positioned in the center, ready to find out who would ascend to heaven and who would not. People were rising up from their graves, some to remain with Jesus, while others were hurled down to hell, where demons waited to torture them. This painting took up the entire wall, approximately 46 feet in width and 66 feet in height.
After gazing at The Last Judgement for an appropriate amount of time, Kim and I then turned our focus on the chapel's ceiling. Divided into 27 panels in a 3 X 9 grid, the middle nine featured stories from the Book of Genesis. In the very center panel was the famous fresco called The Creation of Adam, showing God touching hands with the first man, Adam, who he had just newly created. (An iconic image I'd seen many times, but never the real thing.) Other notable panels included Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, and the Great Flood. The outer nine panels on each side featured male and female prophets, all ancestors of Christ. The paintings were brilliantly colored and even from a height of 66 feet I could make out their intricate details. The Sistine Chapel ceiling was spectacular, dazzling, impressive, remarkable - all the superlatives! Its painted area was about 131 feet in length and 46 feet in width - an enormous canvas. The fact that Michelangelo completed all these ceiling frescoes in just four years was astounding.
Courtyard between St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel
Not to be outdone, the artwork on the other three walls was equally stunning. Created by the artists Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, and Cosimo Rosselli these walls were divided into three tiers. The lowest tier was merely painted drapery. The middle tiers however, depicted the life of Moses on one side, and the other, the life of Jesus. Although not done by Michelangelo, these paintings were still magnificent in their own right. The upper tiers had portraits of past popes and ancestors of Jesus placed around the tall windows.
So much color! Such incredible detail! So many astonishing works of art! The Sistine Chapel was absolutely beautiful and I so wished I could've photographed all its amazing frescoes. A definite highlight of my day.
But after dodging people for 20 minutes, Kim and I were ready to move on. Regrouping with our leader, she led us to the grand finale of our afternoon tour - the massive St. Peter's Basilica.
The Holy Door
While it is regarded as the largest and grandest church in the world, St. Peter's Basilica is neither the mother church of the Catholic religion nor the cathedral of the diocese of Rome. However, St. Peter's is considered one of the holiest of Catholic shrines and the greatest church in all of Christendom. Constructed over the tomb of St. Peter, the head of Jesus' apostles and first pope of Rome, this enormous house of worship is a famous site of pilgrimages and can hold up to 60,000 worshippers for mass. Constructed between 1506 and 1626, famous artists Donato Bramante, Carlo Maderno, and Michelangelo all had a hand in designing this renowned work of Italian Renaissance architecture. Later, the outer piazza and interior finishes were completed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Entrance to St. Peter's Basilica
Our guide first led us into the narthex, or lobby of St. Peter's. Just this area alone was huge! A row of five bronze doors lined one side, all entrances into the basilica. The door on the far right was called the Holy Door, only opened on designated Holy Years, which occurred every 25 years (the last Holy Year was in 2025, so I just missed it!) While standing in the narthex waiting to enter, a trio of colorful Swiss guards marched down the middle aisle. I wasn't quick enough to get a photo, but Kim was (and graciously shared her image with me.)
Swiss guards
After obtaining tickets to go inside, our guide led us through one of the large entry doors into St. Peter's. I was immediately overwhelmed by its sheer size. Tall pillars rose from the floor, 93 feet in height. From my position at the very back, the basilica's front window on the opposite end was two football fields away. I later learned this monster church covered a whopping six acres.
St. Peter's Basilica was stunning
Naturally St. Peter's Basilica was full of visitors, everyone looking skyward, gasping in awe like I was. After my initial jaw-dropping moment, our guide led the group to an alcove to the right of the entrance that held another of Michelangelo's masterpieces - considered by some to be one of the most famous works of all time - thePietà.
Michelangelo's Pietà
Carved from a single block of Carrara marble, Michelangelo created this masterpiece when he was only 24 years old. This sculpture captured the moment when Jesus, taken down from the cross, was given to his mother, Mary. Mary looked upon her son's lifeless body and you could see her sorrow captured in the details of this carving. Its intricate features, right down to the folds of clothing, looked incredibly realistic. For me, it was hard to believe these figures had been hewn from solid rock.
Sadly after a vandalism incident in 1972 that damaged this grand sculpture, it had now been isolated behind a wall of bulletproof glass. Despite being inaccessible, the popularity of this impressive artwork drew huge crowds. When our group arrived, the Pietà was surrounded by such a large mob of people, accessing it necessitated use of my "polite elbows."
Ornate marble floor
Our group then walked back to the basilica's main aisle. The floor was laid out in beautiful colored marble, arranged in geometric patterns. Markers along the floor indicated the size of other well-known churches throughout the world in relation to St. Peter's. That really gave one a sense of how gigantic this basilica was.
Interior details
Overhead the ceilings were composed of gold-framed paintings of religious scenes. However, our guide told us these were not paintings, but mosaics. To prevent damage, the original paintings that once decorated this grand house of worship had all been relocated to the Vatican Museum, and replica mosaics made to replace them. I was amazed - from our vantage below all these mosaics looked as detailed as paintings.
Markers on the floor showing the sizes of other cathedrals
Near the far end of St. Peter's stood a tall, ornate canopy. This structure, called the baldacchino, was thought to be the largest piece of bronze in the world. It acted as a cover for the altar, which sat underneath, and was positioned directly below the basilica's dome. This grandiose 7-story high sculpture was designed by Bernini. The altar and baldacchino were placed directly atop St. Peter's tomb, which resided in the floor below.
Bernini's baldacchino canopy over the main altar
And speaking of the dome - it soared 448 feet in the air from the main altar, making it the tallest dome in the world. Its golden and blue accents glowed in the afternoon sun, making one think that heaven was directly overhead. Michelangelo was asked to create a dome for this grand basilica, so he based his design on the nearby Pantheon and Brunelleschi's dome in Florence. Sadly, the great artist passed away before he could finalize his plans, so the dome was finished by two other men in 1590.
Baldacchino details
At the basilica's very rear was a large, ornate window with a dove on it. Encircled by yellow and orange glass, it was surrounded by an elaborate carved altarpiece. Beneath this window was a smaller altar, used for everyday services, and a large chair called the Throne of St. Peter. Supposedly an ancient relic, thought to be used by St. Peter himself, it was preserved by encasing it in bronze. All these beautiful adornments were also the work of Bernini.
A look inside the dome - amazing!
Sculptures were everywhere, lining the aisles and perched in alcoves high above the floor. Many depicted saints, while others decorated tombs of great church leaders, such as Pope Alexander VII, which was carved from gorgeous cream and rust-colored marble.
Throne of St. Peter
It was in front of the Alexander VII tomb that our tour ended. Our guide said we were welcome to stay in St. Peter's as long as we liked. Kim and I thanked this marvelous young woman who had been an amazing source of information. Then we both wandered around a bit longer, dazed from the grandeur of this place. There was so much to see it was almost overwhelming.
Saint Veronica
Then Kim noticed a staircase that appeared to lead into the basilica's basement. We observed other people heading down its steps, so we thought, why not check it out? Descending into this lower level, Kim and I discovered it held the tombs of popes. During later research, I learned that 91 popes are buried within St. Peter's Basilica. Although a bit creepy at first, I found the elaborate papal tombs to be surprisingly interesting. They were all ornately decorated, befitting of the powerful holy men held inside. I even located the tomb of Pope Paul VI, who had been pope during my childhood (I remember saying his name at every mass.)
The tomb of Pope Alexander VII
After wandering around papal graves for the better part of 30 minutes, Kim and I emerged back upstairs into the basilica's main floor. A mass was underway in one corner of the building, and the place was still full of visitors. The hour was now approaching 5 o'clock, and we both were starting to feel weary from an intense day full of art and all things Catholic. We both agreed it was time to head back to our hotel.
The ceiling art was all mosaics
Emerging back onto St. Peter's Square, Kim and I both marveled at the fact that all traces of this morning's large audience were now gone. The plaza was a sea of empty pavement with only a few groups of people scattered across its vast expanse. As we started walking towards a main road, it began to rain quite heavily. Although we'd discussed possibly trying to walk all the way back to our hotel, this sudden rainstorm made us change our minds. We hailed a cab, and instead enjoyed a warm, day ride.
The mosaics looked like paintings
Over dinner that evening, Kim and I agreed it had been an amazing day. Listening to the pope speak at this morning's audience had definitely been the highlight of our time in Italy. Also, touring the Vatican and seeing both the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica had been incredible experiences. We both decided that today had been the best day of our entire trip. What a great way to end this journey!
Underneath the basilica was a burial chamber for popes
And that's a wrap on my Italy trip! I'd like to thank my travel buddies Kim and Debbie for joining me for another grand adventure. And huge kudos to Kim - taking this tour was her idea. Italy wasn't even on my radar before then, but I'm sure glad she suggested traveling here.
Some graves were quite elaborate
This tour had some challenges - both Kim and I battling colds at different times, hitting crowded cities on national holidays, and putting up with a terrible guide. However, looking back months later, I now realize how fortunate I was to see all the incredible places in this chaotic, but wonderful country. So many amazing churches - it seemed like every one of them housed exquisite artwork. Some very well-known historic sites - things I'd only before seen in textbooks. And exposed to countless famous works of art - it's inspired me to learn more about art history (research for these blog posts has been quite educational - I've gained a whole new appreciation for everything I saw!) The country was gorgeous, the food sublime, and the people warm and friendly. I now understand why everyone loves to visit Italy. I love Italy now too, and hope to return in the near future. There's still more to see! Arrivederci to this wonderful country! And grazie mille for a good time.
Pope Paul the sixth grave
This entire series has been a colossal amount of work - not only to sort, edit and chose photos from 20 days of travel, but also to research the sights that I saw (because there was no way I could remember everything) so I could write intelligently about them in a blog post. Thanks to my followers who still view and comment on my posts - and huge kudos to those who actually read every word of these mammoth recaps. I create these travelogues for myself as personal scrapbooks from my journeys, but I'm grateful to those of you who enjoy them too.
Having just returned from another international trip to Germany, I have tons of photos and stories to share. But I think I'll take a short break from trip reports - I've got a lot of summer and fall photos to catch up on first!
What an end to our trip!
I've got another international trip on the horizon for next April when Kim, my hubby, and I will be journeying to the bonnie country of Scotland. Gotta keep on travelin'!
And if you've missed any of my Italy posts, I've listed them all below with links to each one.
