Rome Day One: Vatican City / Sistine Chapel / St. Peters

Mackenzie Fisher
Mar 13, 2017
5 min read

"I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble." ~ Augustus

I honestly have become overwhelmed recently at the thought of writing these Rome blogs. How can one capture all of the history, beauty, and culture in a few paragraphs? It is hard because when I see places like this, I want to take everyone I love there with me so they can understand my excitement and feel the same things I do when I look back on these pictures. Rome was magical. It really is humbling when you walk by ruins that are older than your country, and learn about cultures that are so different from your own.

Needless to say, I wore my gladiator sandals so the spirits of Rome would respect me. Also because I am THAT tourist.

We had the AAU Ball the night before we left for Rome, and had to wake up at 4:30 to catch an Uber to the airport. We were so excited for the day that we didn't even feel tired! (After a few cups of coffee of course!)

On our bus from the airport to Rome, we drove by ruins in the country side, and immediately felt the presence of Rome.

First stop was for lunch at Capitello, an Italian restaurant next to our hotel! After Milan, we had been looking forward to more Italian pasta for about a month!

We had bought our tickets online for the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, and it was one of the best decisions we could have made in Rome! The line stretched for miles through the city, and we got to skip it and spend more time enjoying Vatican city!

First stop: Vatican Museum!

The Vatican Museum contains paintings, sculptures and other works of art collected by the popes through the centuries. The Museum includes many monumental works of art, such as the Sistine Chapel, the Chapel of Beato Angelico, the Raphael Rooms and Loggia and the Borgia Apartment.

Painting depicting the history of Rome!

Un leopardo assale una zebra

Wenzel Peter, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden

One things that I found very interesting about the museum was that all of paintings of Jesus depicted his body very differently than I am used to seeing in art! "Italian" Jesus isn't as chiseled, but still causes miracles!

It's probably because of all the Pasta here!

Leonardo da Vinci, St Jerome

A statue from the 13th century

Look, we have the same shoes!! Who wore it better?

Because if you get a chance to drink out of the Vatican fountain next to the Sistine Chapel, you do it.

Next stop, Sistine Chapel!

Some history brought to you from the Vatican history database:

The Sistine Chapel is one of the most famous painted interior spaces in the world, and virtually all of this fame comes from the breathtaking painting of its ceiling from about 1508-1512. The chapel was built in 1479 under the direction of Pope Sixtus IV, who gave it his name (“Sistine” derives from “Sixtus”). The location of the building is very close to St. Peter’s Basilica and the Belvedere Courtyard in the Vatican. One of the functions of the space was to serve as the gathering place for cardinals of the Catholic Church to gather in order to elect a new pope. Even today, it is used for this purpose, including in the recent election of Pope Francis in March 2013.

The hallways leading up to the chapel were so detailed, you always had to look up!

Painting of the building of Rome in one of the entranceways!

Click the gallery for some close-ups of the murals and artwork!

In 1508, Pope Julius II (reigned 1503-1513) hired Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the chapel, rather than leaving it appear as it had. Before this time, Michelangelo had gained fame through his work as a sculptor, working on such great works as the Pieta and David. He was not, however, highly esteemed for his work with the brush. According to Vasari, the reason why Julius gave such a lofty task to Michelangelo was because of the instigation of two artistic rivals of his, the painter Raphael and the architect Bramante. Vasari says that the two hoped that Michelangelo would fall flat, since he was less accustomed to painting than he was to sculpting, or alternatively he would grow so aggravated with the Julius that he would want to depart from Rome altogether.

Michelangelo ended up proving everyone wrong, and created one of the most well known murals of all time, Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam. This scene is located next to the Creation of Eve, which is the panel at the center of the room, and the Congregation of the Waters, which is closer to the altar. You can see Jesus and God touching fingers in the middle of the ceiling, and it is breathtaking. The inside of the chapel had to be completely silent, and guards kept shushing everyone! Since it was a holy place, women could not enter with shoulders showing and skirts and shorts had to be below the knee. It was also illegal to take pictures in the room of the Creation of Adam, so I found this one on the Vatican website, maybe you recognize it?

So incredible getting to see the story of Christ painted on the ceilings and walls, and there was definitely a holy presence around it.

Vatican gallery gardens

The top of St. Peters Basilica from the Museum

Next stop, Vatican City!

Statues lined the city columns, and every one was posed differently and represented a different person!

St. Peters Basilica

The Pope's view when he gives speeches. Nothing too crazy here.

We waited in line to get into St. Peters, and were some of the last people let in before it closed for the night! Since it had been raining off and on throughout the day, and since it was later, we got lucky with the line!

The tomb of St. Peter is inside the basilica, right in the worship space!

One of the most famous statues, Michelangelo’s Pieta, inside St Peter’s Basilica.

1972, a man walked into the chapel and attacked the sculpture with a hammer, he destroyed Mary's arm, knocked off a chunk of her nose, and chipped one of her eyelids. Tourists around the scene took many of the pieces of marble that flew off. Later, some pieces were returned, but many were not, including Mary's nose, which had to be reconstructed from a block cut out of her back. To this day, people are still sending back the pieces in envelopes to the church.