This Rome information blog about the Vatican Museums is written for the Rome Bed and Breakfast Chaplin Hostel.

Opening hours

The opening hours of the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel have finally become slightly more visitor-friendly. The following are the hours for 2008:

On weekdays and Saturdays the Vatican Museums are open from 8.30am till 6pm. Last admission is at 4pm.

The Vatican Museums are closed on Sundays and holidays, except for the last Sunday of every month (unless this is a holiday), when they are open from 8.30am to 2pm. Last admission at noon.

The holidays are January 1,6; February 11; March 19,23,24; May 1; May 22; June 29; August 14,15; November 1, December 8, 25 and 26.

Entrance tickets to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel

Tickets are valid only on the date of purchase and are not refundable. Within 5 days from this date, with this same ticket one can visit the Vatican Historical Museum in the Noble Apartment of the Lateran Apostolic Palace. The price of a ticket is 13 Euros, except on the last Sunday of the month, when admission to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel is free.

Directions for the Vatican Museums

From the Chaplin B&B Rome take the metro line A to the stop Ottaviano-San Pietro. Take the first exit on your left and follow the crowds. There is a stop called Cipro-Musei Vaticani, but this is actually further from the entrance to the Museums.

This morning, preparing breakfast at the Chaplin B&B, one of my guests told me that she had found the perfect souvenir to take home from Rome. Walking through the center, in the Pantheon area, they had stumbled upon the store that supplies the Pope’s robes and they had bought a pair of socks there, as a gift for their friends.

They remembered the name of the shop, Annibale Gammarelli, but couldn’t tell me the address, so I googled it. Most of the articles that came up were in German and one of them was intriguingly titled the “Soutane-Krieg”.

Gammarelli, Euroclero and the Cassock War

Gammarelli has been supplying Popes with their wardrobes since 1793, but when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict he apparently changed tailors, preferring to stick with Euroclero (Piazza Sant’Uffizio, 4), the shop where he used to have his Cardinal’s wardrobe made.

As usual Annibale Gammarelli had been ordered to make the first set of garments for the new Pope, in three different sizes (small, medium and large), since nobody knew yet what size was going to fit the still to be elected Pontiff. None of them fit perfectly, though. Benedict had chosen the smallest size, but this turned out to be too short for his height, so the new Pope returned to his trusted Euroclero.

Though the Pope has decided to stick with Euroclero, Gammarelli will continue to be known as the pontifical tailoring firm. They firmly denied that the Pope had changed tailors, claiming that the clothes made by Euroclero should be seen as an “occasional gift to a friend”.

Central locations of and directions to Gammarelli and Euroclero

The address of Gammarelli is Via di Santa Chiara, 34 and the phone number (+39)0668801314.
From the Bed and Breakfast Chaplin and the Rome Hostel Little Italy you take bus 40E and get off at Largo di Torre Argentina. Turn right into either the Via di Torre Argentina or the Via dei Cestari and the second street you cross is the Via di Santa Chiara.
To get from the B&B’s to the Piazza Sant’Uffizio you take the 40E all the way to the end of the line, just outside St. Peter’s Square, and then walk around the Vatican.

To get to Rome’s most important basilica, Saint Peter’s from the Hostel Chaplin Bed and Breakfast Rome is very easy. Walk to Roma Termini and take the metro (line A, 6 stops, to Ottaviano-San Pietro). Take the first exit on your left and follow (shuffle behind) everybody else.

The basilica is open every day of the year, from 7am until 7pm (except during the winter months, when it closes at 6pm). The phone numbers are 06 69881662 and 06 69883462.

The general dress code for Rome’s churches and basilicas is that your knees and shoulders have to be covered. This rule does not get enforced equally strictly in all churches, but it definitely does in Saint Peter’s, so if you visit Rome in the summer and you prefer walking around in shorts, make sure that you have a longer skirt or a pair of jeans with you to slip on before entering Saint Peter’s.

General information

The official name of Saint Peter’s Basilica is Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano. It is the second among the 4 major Roman basilicas (after St. John Lateran). Contrary to what you would expect it is the Lateran basilica which is the patriarchal basilica of Rome , whereas Saint Peter’s is the patriarchal basilica of Constantinople.

It is the burial site of Saint Peter, one of the twelve apostles, who was also the first bishop of Rome. Saint Peter’s tomb is supposed to be below the baldachino and altar, even though there is no indication in the New Testament that Peter ever set foot in Rome.

Many Popes, including the very first ones, have been buried there as well.

The basilica as it is now was built over the Constantinian Basilica. Work started on April 18th of the year 1506 and was finished in 1626.

Due to its size and its location inside the Vatican City it is the principal church of the Catholic religion, even though St. John Lateran is the Pope’s ecclesiastical seat. Most papal ceremonies are performed inside Saint Peter’s.

The 40 metre high obelisk in the middle of the colonnade was moved from the Circus of Nero to its present location on the order of Pope Sixtus V. The 13th century B.C. Egyptian obelisk was originally moved to Rome in 37 A.D. It is the second largest standing obelisk and the only one that remained standing since it was erected during the Roman empire.
There are two fountains in the square, the north one by Maderno, the other one by Bernini.

To get the most spectacular view Saint Peter’s square is best reached through the Via della Conciliazione, which was built by Mussolini, after the signing of the Lateran Treaties.

It has its own constitution, postal system (reputedly faster and more reliable than the Italian system) and flag. The currency is the Euro, though it is not part of the European union. It has its own railway station and its own, very influential, newspaper, the Osservatore Romano.

The Vatican has its own army of about 100 soldiers, the Swiss Guard. Saint Peter’s Square is under control of the Italian police. Several buildings outside the Vatican walls, just like Castel Gandolfo (the pope’s summer residence) have the privilege of extraterritoriality.

In 1929 the Lateran Treaty was signed between Benito Mussolini and Pope Pius XI, which gave the Papal states to Italy and sovereignty over the Holy See plus a considerate financial compensation to the Catholic Church.

The Vatican gets its money from Catholics from all over the world (Peter’s pence), interest on its investments and profits from its bank. Of course the Vatican museums also attract more than 10.000 visitors a day. Some of those visitors buy stamps, some of them books and posters, some of them eat in the restaurant in the Vatican Museums and some of them visit the dome of Saint Peter’s. The Vatican owns land and apartments all across the city, which is rented out at Roman rates.

As can be seen below, there is only a 50 cent price difference between walking and taking the elevator up. Please note that the elevator does not take you all the way up: the last part you will have to walk and the stairs are narrow, steep and many.

Contrary to what most people think, the Dome (or cupola) of Saint Peter’s Basilica was not designed by Michelangelo, but by Giacomo della Porta (assisted by Domenico Fontana). By Michelangelo’s death in 1564 only the drum on which the dome rests had been completed. Della Porta vaulted the dome itself between 1585 and 1590. Fontana built the lantern in 1591 and the ball was placed in 1593.

The brick dome is 42 metres in interior diameter and rises 120 metres above the floor. In the 18th century, when cracks appeared in the dome, four iron chains were installed between the two shells in order to bind it. The – egg-shaped- dome is supported by 4 piers that are each 18 metres across.

The Sistine Chapel is found inside the Vatican Museums. For the opening hours see elsewhere on this blog.
The nearest metro stop to the Vatican Museums is Ottaviano (6 stops from the Chaplin Bed and Breakfast Rome and 7 stops from the B&B Little Italy). The stop called Cipro – Musei Vaticani is actually further away from the entrance to the museums.

General information

The Cappella Sistina (or Sistine Chapel) is both the most important work of art in the Vatican Museums and one of the most important chapels in the Apostolic Palace: it is the chapel where, during the conclave, a new Pope is elected. The Sistine Chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who ordred the construction work. It is rectangular and has the exact dimensions of the Temple Of Salomon, as described in the Old Testament. The chapel is divided into two parts, the bigger one being for religious cerimonies, the other one for the faithful.

Conclave

The religious function the Sistine Chapel is most famous for is of course the Conclave, when a new Pope is elected. A chimney is installed in the chapel’s roof. If white smoke rises from it a new Pope has been elected and if the smoke is black everybody will have to stay in St. Peter’s Square and continue staring at a chimney.
Chronology

It took 11 years to build the Sistine Chapel, after the architectectural design by Baccio Pontelli. The frescoes were finished in less than one year. Everybody liked them.

1473	Beginning of construction work
1481	(July) Beginning of work on the frescoes
1482	(May) Frescoes finished
1483	(August 9) Celebration of the first mass in the Sistine Chapel
1484	Construction work finishes.
1508	Pope Julius II commissions Michelangelo to paint the ceiling
1512	(November 1) Michelangelo finishes painting the ceiling
1535	Michelangelo begins the Last Judgment
1541	Michelangelo finishes the Last Judgment
1981	Restauration
1994	Restauration finishes.

In 1981 restoration of the Sistine Chapel was started. It took 13 years to complete the work. By then art critics had invented themselves and thus the restoration (and especially the use of bright colors) was pronounced to be controversial. There are 5 centuries between the original creation of the ceiling and its restoration, so it seems rather arrogant that somebody can even think of claiming to know what Michelangelo’s intentions were, but then again what do I know?

Frescoes

In medieval times world history was divided into 3 epochs, very roughly divided into: up to Moses, between Moses and Christ, Christian era. The wall paintings were historical and religious themes, chosen according to this division. They were executed by some of the most famous painters of the Quattrocento period.

The frescoes depict scenes from the Old and the New testament, linking the lives of Moses and Christ and, ultimately the Pope, whose God-given authority was underlined by the papal portaits above the Biblical depictions. The narratives began at the altar wall and ended at the entrance wall. Thirty years later Michelangelo’s Last Judgment would however be painted over the original scenes on the altar wall. The two most important scenes from the fresco cycle are Perugino’s Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter and Botticelli’s The Punishment of Korah having the arch of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, who gave the Pope temporal power over the Roman western world, in the background.
Ceiling

Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Sistine chapel’s vault. Michelangelo had a special scaffold built, to minimize the damage to the ceiling. It took him 4 years to complete his masterpiece. A new mixture of plaster, intonaco, still in use today, had to be invented to stop the mold in the humid chapel.

The original idea was just to have Michelangelo paint the 12 apostles. When he refused the commission he was told he could paint whatever he wanted. Michelangelo chose to paint Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and the Flood.
On the lowest part of the ceiling he painted Christ’s ancestors, with above this male and female prophets, and higher again nine stories from the book of Genesis.

Michelangelo only used male models since females were too expensive. The bright colors were used because they were easily visible from the ground.

Michelangelo’s Last Judgment

Michelangelo’s Last Judgment spans the entire wall behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel. It depicts the second coming of Christ and the apocalypse. The souls of humanity rise and descend to their fates as they are judged by Christ and the saints. The naked figures and their naked little genitals caused an uproar, to which Michelangelo reacted by painting the likeness of one of his fiercest critics onto the face of Minos, the judge of the underworld. When Biagio da Cesena, the person in question, complained, the Pope responded that unfortunately he could not do anything, since his jurisdiction did not extend to the underworld. In 1565, two years after the Council of Trent had condemned nudity in religious art, Pope Pius IV had the artist Daniele de Volterra paint over the genitalia. The church could thereby effectively be pronounced to have lost its sense of humour and its little genitals, but that is just a personal opinion and not really what my Rome blog is about.

I did not know anything about the Sistine Chapel before I started writing this, so basically this is an excerpt of the Wikipedia article. They also mention some quotes about the Sistine Chapel, but unfortunately they forgot Kinky Friedman, whose grandfather, if I remember correctly, in one of Kinky’s novels once dared declare: “If you’ve seen one Sistine Chapel, you’ve seen them all”.

Which is enough irreverence for today.

Vatican museums – Practical information