Vatican City

For Thanksgiving, we travelled to Rome and spent a day in Vatican City. Vatican City is actually a tiny, independent country with two huge sights for us visitors:
St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museum.



Vatican City is the religious capital of 1.1 billion Catholics. It is about 100 acres in total, contained within these Roman walls. It has it's own postal system with it's own Vatican City postage stamps. It has a helipad, radio station and is protected by these Swiss guards.

By the way, Swiss guards (who wear uniforms designed by Michelangelo) apply for their positions and must be Swiss nationals (who are perceived as the finest soldiers), speak 4 fluent languages, including Latin (which is, yes, still a spoken language), be between the ages of 18 and 24 years old and celibate (no dating allowed), and (get this) MUST be "good looking."(Is there a panel of judges?) After they return home from their two-year tour of duty, the Vatican City Swiss guards can find a job anywhere.

Rather than spend the hours needed to explore the Vatican Museum, we learned a bit about Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel from our fabulous guide (and friend of Joe's sister, Angela) Caitlin, and bee-lined right to it, passing many other lavish ceilings along our way through the papal palace. 

 

Twice a week, the Pope greets and blesses crowds that gather in St Peter's Square. The Basilica was closed on the day we visitted as the Pope presided inside.

(The big screen in St Peter's Square allows anyone to get "up close and personal" with the Pope.)



The Square was originally a huge, Roman, chariot racecourse and a popular place for persecuting early Christians. The "new" St. Peters was built at the start of the Rennaissance in 1506 and surrounded the "old" St Peter's, which was built by Costantine in 313 AD and eventually dismantled and carried away.

284, 56-feet high columns line the elliptically-shaped square. This ring of columns symbolizes the arms of the church, welcoming everyone, believers and non-believers alike, with it's motherly embrace.



Vatican City and St Peter's Square were full of Roman character, church history, and Renaissance beauty, places to get "up close and personal" with Italy, and, to each other!