Incredible in its cultural, historical and artistic value, a collection of archaeological and historical artifacts, works of religious and secular art is possessed by one of the smallest countries-cities of our planet - the Vatican. Museum-state - this is the name of this city, in the huge complex of Musei Vaticani which contains most of the treasures accumulated by the Roman Catholic Church over many centuries.
A bit of history
In the XV century, by order of Pope Sixtus IV, the Sistine Chapel named in his honor was built on the territory of the Vatican. Its construction was led by the architect de Dolchi according to the project of another author - Baccio Pontelli. A rather modest church structure inside was decorated with paintings by such Renaissance artists as Domenico Ghirlandaio and Sandro Botticelli, P. Perugino and C. Rosselli. The world famous fresco "The Last Judgment" by the great Michelangelo decorates this chapel.
At the beginning of the XVI century, the Torre dei Borgia (Borgia Tower) appears in the Vatican, which is considered today not only a historical, but also an architectural monument. Around the same time, Pope Julius II began to collect a variety of elegant objects and, in particular, copies of sculptures of ancient masters. To accommodate these exhibits, a suitable room was allocated - the Octagonal courtyard.
The Vatican acquired the status of a sovereign state with legalized papal authority only in the first quarter of the last century, after the Lateran Treaty was signed. However, according to this document, expositions of cultural, historical and religious values that were previously available only to the Catholic clergy and wealthy and noble people were prescribed to be opened for viewing by everyone.
What can be seen?
Today, about 1/5 of the Vatican State is open for tourists to visit. The Raphael Loggia Museum, where some travelers tend to go, as such, does not exist. This is part of the official papal office, where ordinary travelers are not allowed to enter. But even without it, the Vatican has something to see: about 19 museums and more than 1, 400 rooms (galleries, chapels, halls and chapels) open for visiting and viewing. The total length of all the proposed excursion routes is about 7 kilometers.
What museums work?
We will not talk in detail about all the Vatican museums accessible to tourists, we will only list them:
- Apartments Borgia.
- Ethnological missionary.
- Historical.
- Chiaramonti.
- Pius Clement.
- Pio Cristiano
- Pinakothek.
- Gregorian.
- Egyptian.
- Etruscan.
- Secular art.
Galleries:
- geographic maps;
- candelabra;
- tapestries.
Chapels:
- Nikolina;
- Sistine.
It will take more than one day to simply go around, not particularly examining the exhibits, all the Vatican museums (traveler reviews indicate this). More than three hours, an ordinary tourist who does not have special training can not stand it. Therefore, it is better to think in advance what you want to see in the first place, and devote maximum time to any one or two museums.
Opening hours
Want to get to know the Vatican? You can choose any museum for a better acquaintance with a mini-country. All of them start their work from 9 am and are open until 6 pm. It’s better to come to the ticket office somewhere around 8 in the morning, since in the midst of the tourist season the line-up of unorganized travelers is quite large, and you can stand in it for several hours. Ticket offices are open until 16 hours, but the museums themselves will have to leave no later than half past five in the evening, that is, 30 minutes before they close. Unlike our museums, the Vatican operate on Sunday only if it is the last Sunday of the month.
If holidays such as Easter, the Day of the Apostles Peter and Paul (June 29), Catholic Christmas (December 25), St. Stephen's Day (December 26), and the last Sunday of the month coincided, then feel free to go to the Vatican, you can visit the museum until 12:30 completely free.
Positive feedback on the Vatican Museums is left by tourists who were fortunate enough to visit them in the evening, from 19 to 23 hours. Such an opportunity exists from May to October, with the exception of August. Entrance to the museums will be closed at half past ten in the evening, but visitors already inside can continue their inspection until 23:00.
Ticket price
To get to the Vatican Museums, tickets must be purchased at the box office. During the tourist season, the lines are quite large, and, as already mentioned, you can spend several hours in them if you are not lucky.
A single ticket to visit the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums is valid all day from the moment of purchase to the closing of museums. A full adult ticket costs 16 euros. Experienced travelers recommend booking tickets online and getting a voucher for their purchase. The price of such a service is 4 euros, but both time and nerves will be saved. For pupils and students who have submitted documents of international standard confirming their status, a ticket will cost 4 euros, and for everyone else aged 6 to 18 years - 8 euros.
How to find out about all the attractions that the Vatican is rich in? The museum is the most interesting to visit, having rented for 7 euros an audio guide with more than 400 mp3 files.
