Il Vaticano
After our theology midterm exam, our professor took us to the Vatican museums, which I had wanted to see. Before we left the classroom, though, we learned a little more pope and church history as well as info about the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo’s work on it. Pope Innocent VIII is who began the collections of art that would later become the Vatican museums.
There are about 12 museums, I believe, but we only went through a couple of them. There was a lot of nice religious paintings, tapestries, frescoes, even altar pieces, as well as statues. Our professor took us through and talked about some of the paintings and works of art that we saw, including ones by DaVinci and Raphael. Then he let us continue on by ourselves to wait in line to see the Sistine Chapel and explore the other parts of the museums. I went to the Egyptian rooms and saw some really interesting art, artifacts, and tombs.
I got pictures of a lot of the things there (the only place photography was strictly forbidden was the Sistine Chapel); be sure to check out my album and see all the art!
In one open section of the museums, we could look out over a quiet little courtyard, that’s part of the Vatican and wasn’t open to the public. The museums are technically part of Vatican City too, but public space, so we could go in without our passports or special permission.
Vatican City is an interesting little entity; it’s a sovereign city-state, and therefore the smallest independent nation in the world! It houses the Apostolic Palace, which is the Pope’s official residence. To get into Vatican City, you can’t just come up with your passport and ask to visit, but you have to be invited or have some sort of business there (a meeting, need to use the Vatican library). And to even use the library, you have to have documented scholastic proof that you’re working on something that requires your use of articles in the library. It’s very exclusive and rather difficult to get in! The Swiss guards live in the city as well as protect it. They are the smallest and oldest army in the world, having been founded in 1506. The Guard consists of about 100 men, and they function as the personal body guards of the pope as well as restrict entry to Vatican City. And, did you know, recruitment to the Swiss Guard is restricted to Catholic, male, Swiss citizens? Interesting. The whole Vatican thing is interesting and weird. I mean it’s a whole other nation right in the middle of Rome! I’d like to try to get in and see what’s its like, with all the priests and cardinals walking about inside. I’ll work on it, and let you know if I make any progress…
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