Vatican, A City-State

In 1309, the increasing civic and national troubles in Rome and in Italy, caused the Pope to relocate to Avignon, France, not to return ‘til 1377. Finally, the 1929 Lateran Treaty established the Vatican’s sovereignty, and defined its boundaries.

The approach to Piazza San Pietro is awesome—St. Peter’s Basilica (San Pietro Basilica), topped with Michelangelo’s dome, at 693 feet by 434 feet, the largest church ever built, has room for 60,000 people. Giovanni Bernini’s semicircular portico of 284 travertine marble columns partially encircle the Piazza San Pietro, and like a pair of parentheses they enclose a fountain on each side of the Piazza, and the obelisk in the center.

The gargantuan Vatican Museums complex is composed of more than two dozen distinct collections, and the huge Vatican Library in a maze of rooms, stairways, and courtyards. We recommend the Raphael Rooms and Loggias. The visitor may choose one or more of four color-coded itineraries, each of which culminates in the Sistine Chapel.

The highlight of any visit to St. Peter’s, Michelangelo’s “Pietà,” was sculpted in 1499 when he was 25 years old. Starting in 1508 Michelangelo spent ten of the next 33 years creating the frescos that cover the Sistine Chapel’s great vaulted ceiling (1508-1512), and his sweeping fresco (1535-1541), “The Last Judgment” (66 feet by 33 feet), on the altar wall.

On our second visit they were experimenting with a new method of cleaning the ceiling and walls of the Sistine Chapel. A rail was then installed on each side of the Chapel near the ceiling, a platform was mounted on the rail so it could roll to and fro. Ceiling renovation was carried on from the platform while tourists continued to gaze and gasp from below.

By the time of our last visit, the ceiling and the top part of the wall were partially renewed, and we could see the aged ceiling, the platform, and the beautifully restored, renovated portion of the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling.

On December 11, 1999 the Pope presided at the ceremony to celebrate the full restoration of the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals gather to elect a new pope. The Chapel walls and ceiling have been restored to their forgotten splendor, and must be visited by even the most hurried tourist.