Italy, as it is famous for food, it is for art and architecture. When here, you cannot miss a visit to famous Vatican Museums. With around 7 km of an art gallery and more than 70,000 artworks, this place is heaven for art and history lovers. It has paintings, sculptures, and the famous Sistine chapel to make your visit worthwhile. There are so many wings and sections you can visit here. And, if you are short of time, confusion is obvious. But worry not, we are here to make your short visit worthwhile. Here is the list of main attractions at Vatican Museums. Take a cue from here.
To book your tickets or plan your vacations conveniently to vatican museums or anywhere in Italy visit here.
Vatican Museum
We've got your back if you don’t know anything about the place. The rest of the readers can directly skip to the next part. Now if this is your first-time visiting Vatican museums, we would say, reserve at least 5-7 hours. Walking through 7km of the gallery will take time and energy; and after the tour, you will search for food places. And not only galleries but once here you can also visit Vatican gardens and the Tiber River nearby.
Located at 00120 Vatican City, Vatican museums were established in 1506 by Pope Julius II and made open to the public in 1771. These are a group of Christian museums and over 54 galleries located within Vatican City. From classical paintings and sculptures to those inspired by the renaissance movement to modern religious art, this place has everything for art lovers and history seekers. Not only this but also its famous Bramante spiral staircase is a point of attraction to many. To put it in line, the Vatican Museum art collections are the world’s largest.
You can purchase the tickets online and get a follow-up on the opening hours of Vatican museums here.
Main attractions at Vatican museums
- The Sistine Chapel
- The Raphael rooms
- The Pinecone Courtyard
- The Spiral staircase
The Sistine chapel:
Located on the third floor of the building, Sistine Chapel is the most visited and famous place here. Paintings here on the ceiling, the upper part of the walls, and the lunettes are the most influential pieces of European art by Michelangelo. This series of paintings have over 40 scenes, depicting nine stories of Genesis, the ancestors of Jesus, the twelve prophets, and Sibyls. The most prominent ones are the ceiling painting of the creation of Adam and the altar painting of the last judgment.
The Sistine chapel is also the pope’s own chapel and the location for papal ceremonies. When here, we suggest you take your time gazing at the most wonderful art pieces in the world.
The Raphael Rooms
As said Vatican museums shout about the renaissance movement through their paintings, to hear it louder, the Raphael rooms are the best place. These are the group of rooms famous for their frescoes painted by Raphael, marking the high renaissance in Rome. They consist of:
- Hall of Constantine (Sala di Costantino)
- Room of Heliodorus (Stanza di Eliodoro)
- Room of the Signatura (Stanza della Segnatura)
- The room of the fire in the Borgo (Stanza dell'Incendio del Borgo)
Out of these four rooms, the most famous is Room of the Signatura (Stanza della Segnatura). It contains four paintings, one on each wall, representing theology, poetry, justice, and philosophy. When there try finding out which one represents what.
The Pinecone Courtyard
This is the most photographed place in Vatican museums, technically outside museums. It gets its name from the 13 ft. high bronze pinecone installation at one end of the square. This place is also another attraction called Sfera con Sfera (sphere within sphere) which is a huge golden ball.
The Spiral Staircase
Located in the Pio-Clementino Museum, at the exit of the museum, Bramante Staircase is another picturesque Vatican museums main attraction. It consists of two staircases. One, the original, was formed in 1505 and designed by Bramante. While the modern one, designed by Giuseppe Momo was built in 1932. It has two staircases which allow people to go up and down without crossing each other. This is intended only as the exit from The Vatican museums, and you will visit it only at end of your museums tour.
You can also check out our other guides on vatican Museums here.