We arrived in front of the basilica with its huge set of columns on either side, encircling you in the “arms” of the church. The whole area is huge, the columns are tall and stretch quite a ways around you. Above the columns are rows of statues of popes and saints, a popular rest stop for the birds. There is an obelisk in the center and a fountain to one side, though I am not sure of their history.
We had to wait in line to get through to the church but it moved quickly and entrance is free. Upon entering, I was immediately struck by the vastness of the place. Just the atrium, the frontal area spanning the width of the church, would make an impressive church by itself. Of all there is to see in the basilica, the vastness is really the most incredible element, in my opinion.
Except for the Pieta by Michelangelo, with its own setting to the right of the entrance. There was a big crowd there admiring the work which is indeed very beautiful. Nick was moved and he wasn’t the only one. I thought we might need an ambulance for the woman next to me, she was borderline hyperventilating. What is amazing about the work, besides the incredible feeling and craftsmanship, is the fact that Michelangelo completed this work at age 24. I just can’t imagine any of my classmates in my sculpture class busting that out. What a gifted artist.
The rest of the basilica was a showcase of incredible marble columns, insanely huge sculptures of saints and popes, golden decoration covering every square inch from top to bottom, light beaming from the windows onto marble floors, and an impressive display of curved columns covering the tomb of St Peter. Again, the most striking factor was the size. It was like being in the mansion of a giant.
Although everything was beautifully crafted and incredibly stunning, it was hard for me to find God there. I have never been into the huge incredibly ornate churches with low lighting and depressing artwork. It seems a place of sadness more than joy or peace and the gaudiness can be more distracting than inspiring. The dead popes didn’t help. They have a few popes in see-through caskets there, with people praying in front of them. Sorry, but I thought that was pretty creepy.
So we finished our walk through the great St Peters with one more look at the Pieta on our way out. We then went to the outside and walked up the dome (a ton of steps in a tightly enclosed space) to get a closer view of the inside of the dome and a view of the great city of Rome. It was cool but I thought Florence was much more beautiful to look at. It did give me an opportunity to capture the enormity of the area in front of the basilica, something I couldn’t do on the ground.
We hit up a little restaurant for lunch – with Europe it’s less food for more price which I’m not a huge fan of – and then headed to the Vatican Museum. Always at these top sites there are tour guides preying on couples like us trying to lure us into the museum and pay for their tour. “You’ll skip the line and learn so much!” It gets annoying being asked seven times if you’re going into the museum.
But with the Vatican Museum it may have been worth it. After we waited about 20 to 30 minutes i line, which isn’t bad for that place, we got an audiotour device complete with a useless uber-simplified map of the vast museum. After walking all over the place looking for the recommended starting point of Egypt, we gave up, already frustrated - sore, tired, and sweating to death - and decided to just make it through as best we could on our own instead of following their “map.” You would think paying $18 a head getting into the place that they could afford to give you a decent map!
Anyway, there were a few cool things, like the Laocoon sculpture that has always been one of my all-time favorites. Something about the emotion and the struggle and the curves of the whole piece really appeal to me, maybe just because it breaks away from your typical standing or reclined position. There was some cool Egypt stuff too, with some very ancient carvings and coffins. There was even a real mummy of a woman from 1000 BC. It was a bit creepy, buy less so than the popes.
After walking through a maze of rooms, we were herded – Nick mooed a few times because it was that crowded that we felt like cattle – into the Sistine Chapel. It was neat to see these so famous frescoes in person but the setting was much different than I had imagined. That was really all there was to the place, the frescoes on top and on the sides, and that was it. There were no statues or other ornaments to the place and it was dimly lit so I felt the colors could be showcased better in a brighter setting.
And it was incredibly crowded. Every fifteen seconds or so someone would shush the crowd. I figured there might be an official shusher and that is their job. There were also camera-hunters. You can take pictures in the Vatican Museum but not in the Sistine Chapel and if they catch you taking pictures they make you delete them from your camera. They wander through the crowd looking for signs of sneakiness. Nick refrained from his evil ways and kept the camera off. Good boy.
I did get to see one of my favorites, the School of Athens, on the way out. Again, the lighting could have been better and they made it difficult to take a good picture by placing this information display in front of it. Good thinking, guys! We also passed a lot of modern Christian art, most of which I found unappealing except for one that I have posted in the pictures here. I like the colors and shapes.
So that was it for us and we were happy to come home. Our feet really need a serious rest from the walking and we could use a museum break too. Nick said if he sees one more Roman bust he might have to break it, haha! In the mean time, unfortunately, this hostel is really crappy. They are pulling some weird stuff here, telling us we get free internet when we paid and now all of a sudden we only get a very limited time. I have seen a lot of people getting mad about it and I’m thinking of staging a revolt. It’s not the internet that bothers me as much as the bad practice. You’re obviously doing bad business here and that’s not right. So, although Rome is cool, I will be happy to move on from this very scrubby, very sketchy hostel.
PHOTOS:
Here I am among the arms of the great church.
The front of St Peters Basilica. Behold its greatness.
Here is the wall holding the Pieta behind bullet-proof glass. It looked pretty awesome and serene.
A close up of the Pieta. It's really a must-see in person. So amazing that Michelangelo did that at age 24! What the heck??
Although I am not a fan of the always-dim basilica, it does allow the sunlight to shine through in vibrant rays through the church. The effect is other-worldly.
Of course, the place was adorned with many statues much larger than a man.
This is the piece that stands above the tomb of St Peter. It almost reminds me of a huge richly decorated canopy bed. It's so hard to capture anything in that church because everything is so large. I need a really wide angle camera to accomplish what I want to there and even then you won't have any clue how big it is until you go yourself.
One of the many areas with a set of pews. I do like the stained-glass piece in the middle.
Just one little detail in the enormous basilica. Just one of many arches and just one statue of many more. There is gold everywhere, inlaid in everything.
This is the detail on the inside of one of the domes, barely visibly from down below. We passed right by it on our way up the dome.
From above the dome of St Peters Basilica, you can see the arms of the church, the row of columns stretching out from the great church.
See how little those people are down there! The place is huge. I am sure it is super crowded when the pope comes out every Sunday to give his blessing.
We stopped at restaurant on our way to the Vatican Museum. What the heck is this pizza? Let's throw a slab of lunch meat on there and oh hey, here's a boiled egg, that sounds good. No thanks!
This stuff is 3000-4000 years old. So cool. I will have to go to Egypt someday.
I thought I'd spare you the dead popes but this mummified 3000 year old woman is pretty interesting, though admittedly slightly creepy.
I LOVE this piece! Everything about it is awesome and I was so excited to see it. I will add it to my garden wish-list.
The School of Athens by Raphael. There are a lot of cool things happening in this piece but I won't go into it. I would have stayed to stare at it for a while but it was so hot and humid in that room.
I'm not much of a modern art fan but I did like the colors and shapes here. It was interesting that the Vatican had these modern pieces. A lot of them looked as if a child had done them. Sorry but I can't appreciate that too much.
One of the final pieces we saw, I thought this was really beautiful, especially the colors.
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