Rome #1, The Vatican, Italy 1/2014
As the saying goes,” Rome—a lifetime”. We didn’t have a lifetime so what to see in a few days? Of course the Colosseum, The Forum, maybe a few museums and the City itself. But above all, we wanted to see the Vatican.
Thanks to various tips from other travelers we easily found a comfortable guarded RV parking lot just a short walk from the bus and tram stations into town. Arriving at the Vatican, we were quite pleased to learn that we had been invited for a General Audience with Pope Francis I. Well, not exactly alone. We picked up our invitations and joined several hundred others who had been invited.
The Pope and Vatican City are guarded by the Swiss Guard, specially trained volunteer soldiers from Switzerland. This gave us a little advantage since Monika, being Swiss, could walk right up to one of the guards and start a conversation in Swiss German, and from that we learned what would probably be the best place to stand to actually see Pope Francis close-up as he drove around in his Pope-Mobile. We were impressed with his easy going and warm Latin personality. The whole affair ran into a couple of hours and we stayed for the final blessing.
St. Peter’s Basilica itself is as spectacularly beautiful as one might imagine. The Vatican Museum is nearly overwhelming with its treasures of art and historical artifacts, much of which you would need to be a master theologian to grasp all the meanings. On the top of our list was to see the spectacular, (oops, there’s that word again), Sistine Chapel painted mostly by Michelangelo. It took him four years to complete the ceiling (1508-1512). Later he returned to paint the Last Judgment which is, well, you know the word. Unfortunately there are a dozen guards in the Sistine Chapel making sure that no one takes any pictures of any kind. How strange. But when you consider that 25,000 people per day (5 million/year) pack themselves into the Sistine Chapel to tip their heads back in awe, we suppose it would be annoying to have the same crowd snapping pictures. It’s an active chapel, another reason why you can’t take pictures, and it is supposed to be quiet, but that didn’t keep the guards from yelling at anyone who even looked like he was about to sneak a shot with his iPhone.
After strolling through miles of art and sculptures and treasures it was already dark by the time we returned to actually see St. Peter’s Basilica. Fortunately it was fairly well lit and we were able to get some images to share with you.
Feeling quite lucky that we had managed to see most of the Vatican in one day including being blessed by Pope Francis, we stayed long enough to watch the changing of the Swiss Guards which was performed with considerably less pomp and circumstance than the same procedure at Buckingham Palace, but nevertheless quite impressive. Our only choice now was to find a cute café with some nice Italian wine and maybe some fresh pasta with a homemade sauce.
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- St. Peter’s Basilica at Vatican City, the one and only center of the Roman Catholic Church. Having seen it so many times in pictures, it was strange to stand in front of it.
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- The interior of St. Peter’s Basilica was as spectacularly beautiful as you might imagine.
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- The Baldachin, a large Baroque sculpted bronze canopy over the high alter of St. Peter’s Basilica, was amazing.
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- Several Popes are buried in St. Peter’s Basilica. This delicately carved sculpture commemorates Pope Pius X.
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- The “Pietà” (1498–1499) is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti, the creator of “David” in Florence.
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- On full duty, Swiss Guards are not allowed to speak or smile. This Swiss Guard, for the moment on civil duty, was more than willing to have his picture taken with Monika.
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- The official Swiss Guards at one of the Vatican’s entrances stood like statues, one holding a medieval Halberd weapon. We were able to watch the changing of the guard.
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- We were lucky to have been invited to the general audience with Pope Francis together with a few hundred others from all over the World.
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- The warm Latin personality of Pope Francis was evident as he greeted the crowd.
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- More than once the Pope stopped to personally hold, bless and kiss a baby that was held up to him. One close to us screamed but he just chuckled.
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- The final blessing was preceded by many well wishes from the congregation around the world and a crowd engaging speech by Pope Francis.
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- Moving on to the vast Vatican Museum, there were many more amazing artifacts than we can show you here. This elaborately carved sculptured sarcophagus with the seated River God Arno was of Roman era. (170-180 AD)
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- In 1864, this gilded bronze statue of Heracles was found laying horizontally in a trench, covered by a slab of travertine with the cut letters FCS (Fulgur Conditum Summanium). The statue had apparently been struck by lightening, and following Roman customs, had been granted a ritual burial together with the remains of a lamb.
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- The intricate mosaic in the Rotunda hall of the museum was impressive.
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- The ceiling of one of the Galleries could give you a stiff neck if you studied it carefully.
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- The large tapestries displayed in one of the long halls were shocking in their details like this one from Brussels called “The Massacre of the Innocents” (16th century) when you consider it was done one thread at a time on a large loom.
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- This sarcophagus sculptured from a solid block of rose marble must be telling the story about the person entombed.
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- The circular mosaic depicting the Goddess Venus was created from tiny stones in vivid colors.
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- This Van Gogh painting was part of a large modern religious art collection. We discovered many famous names.
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- Perhaps the original Pope-Mobile, this one displayed in the carriage museum was embellished with gold leaf.
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- The Sistine Chapel ceiling painted by Michelangelo is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance art. (1508-1512) The colors were surprisingly vivid and the skillfully drawn human figures influenced many artists over the centuries. (photo Wikipedia)
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- Several years later, Michelangelo was also commissioned to create a large fresco called “The Last Judgment” on the sanctuary wall. (1536-1541) The nude figures created quite an uproar at the time. Awe inspiring today, it’s just one of those things you have to see some day! (photo Wikipedia)
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- Nighttime is peaceful at the Vatican with lonely Swiss Guards keeping their watch. Vatican City is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the City of Rome.
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- We found a cute café on a side street and enjoyed a great Italian dinner.
As the saying goes,” Rome—a lifetime”. We didn’t have a lifetime so what to see in a few days? Of course the… http://t.co/ED7vvBfYJ1