Wonders of the Vatican

There are few places on Earth where the divine smacks you across the face with such unapologetic grandeur. Vatican City is an empire built not on conquest, but on belief, guilt and an impressive collection of priceless art. It sits there smugly in the heart of Rome like a jewel-encrusted Fabergé egg, holy and priceless.

I enter the smallest state in the world and arrive at St. Peter’s Square, where a large crowd has gathered surrounded by the imposing pillars. At exactly noon, the Pope Francis appeared as a tiny white dot in the window of the Apostolic Palace. His fragile voice booms across the square from multiple speakers. My Italian is a bit rusty, but I think he announces the lottery numbers as usual.

The noble sport of Pope-spotting.

Even though the state is less than a hundred years old, the area has been of great importance for thousands of years. The Vatican is all too popular with tourists, which combined with high security leads to massive queues and crowds.

Roaming around in St Peter’s Basilica.

St. Peter’s Basilica is the obvious poster boy of the Vatican. Regardless of religion, the world’s largest basilica leaves no soul (or wallet) untouched. The first thing I see when entering is a red marker on the marble floor, indicating the very spot where Charlemagne was once crowned by the pope.

I look around at the lavishly decorated interior, passing by the haunting Pieta statue by Michelangelo. This is a place designed to make you feel small and God feel very very big.

View of the Vatican from the St. Peter’s Basilica cupola.

One of my favorite areas to visit is the Vatican Grottoes, a underground system of caves beneath the church. It features the graves of many popes and saints in massive sarcophaguses, as well as the tomb of Swedish queen Kristina. The church is said to be founded upon the burial site of St. Peter, crucified on this hill in 64 AD, so of course his infamous tomb is down there in the darkness as well.

Literally topping if all off is the view from the cupola, where Anita Ekberg once lost her hat to the wind in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960).

Maps Gallery with golden ceiling.

I enter the Vatican Museums with a crowd of tourists so thick I could surf the tide of humanity without moving my feet. Behind selfie sticks and a wall of people I glimpse a maze of halls and courtyards with historical art, one of the greatest collections on the planet. The collections range from the divine, such as the painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, to the mundane, including the old bathtub of Nero. There are also more modern marvels like the Bramante Staircase.

Bramante Staircase from 1932.

On my last visit to the museums almost two decades ago, I remember that it was a lot of visitors back then as well, but nothing compared to this time. Bring plenty of water and comfy shoes, at the very least. The patience of a modern-day saint would also do wonders, I suppose.