Mircea Marciu (Marcius)
Official Tour Guide
Vatican Museums
The long history of the Vatican City state has significantly influenced the current layout of this city.
Starting from the area around the Constantine basilica that was used to host the pilgrims visiting Saint Peter’s tomb, it became the representative heart for the pope, the none of the most extensive museum complexes on the planet, before turning into the smallest sovereign state in the world in 1929.
Nowadays, the Vatican is known by everyone as a small territory whose name immediately recalls the Catholic Church.
St. Peter Basilica, it’s the world’s largest Basilica of Christianity, nested into the heart of the Vatican city, with its 186 meters of length , a main dome 136 meter high and 42 meters large in diameter.
It has a surface of 22000 meters and 20,000 persons can pray in it.
The new basilica took 120 years to complete ( from 1506 to 1626 )and all the great architects of the Roman Renaissance and Baroque were part of its design.
Many architects were consulted, however the main contributors to the creation of St Peter Basilica were Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Giacomo della Porta and Maderno.
The square invented by Bernini, the king of the Baroque style, is spectacular!
His idea was to create a long, oval columns, as a colossal embrace for his own believers around the world. 320 meters long and 240 wide.
284 columns arranged on four rows and above 140 statues of saints with a size of 3.10 meters.
That’s impressive, right?
In the liturgies and more important events St. Peter’s Square has held more than 300,000 people.
The Vatican Museums are referred to the plural as there many different collections as Greco-Roman sculpture, Egyptian mummies, Etruscan bronzes, ancient mosaics, sarcophagi and altars, gallery of the maps, Pinacoteca with picture galleries from the Early Middle Age to the Eighteenth century, Raphael Rooms and the main event, The Sistine Chapel.
The Vatican Museums are one of the largest museums in the world.
There are more than 27 attractions as museums, galleries, chapels, papal apartments and rooms, courtyards, ( even bars and restaurants) with a enormous historic and artistic importance , long about, 8 km.
In here , the museums bring together one of the most impressive and extensive collections in the world, having more than 70.000 exhibits in an area of 42.000 meters.
Stunning !!!
To cover the entire surface with the various museums and galleries, to give the real attention to the objects on display, as a scholar, not as a tourist in a hurry, well, it would take at least a week.
In the classical three hours tour we only scratch the surface, trying to make understand people what does represents the private collection of the popes and hoping that the tourists will bring home at least an IMPORTANT IDEA.
The Vatican Museum to the end are nothing else than a huge heritage and responsibility in preserving the History and Art of the Mankind during the centuries.
