Vatican

Rome, a land of enticing artefacts, original paintings, endless gelato and pasta!

Let's get this straight... you can't leave Rome without visiting Vatican City! It can be a bit difficult to get to Vatican city from the centre of Rome, we woke up early and after a small breakfast at the hotel we ran off to catch the bus which is number 62 then its last stop was Vatican City!. Vatican is a tourists magnet thanks to the presence of Rome's most popular attractions such as: St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican Museums and The Sistine Chapel. The City's population is about 842 and it is surrounded by tall stone walls.

There you could see on the right of the picture the huge stone walls that surround Vatican City, and ohh, look! Bus number 62 is right over there! That's where it dropped us! It was a really long ride and the bus got so crowded it was like everyone was off to Vatican that day! Some roads were pretty jammed as well I think because most roads were narrow and as you see cars parking lined up along the huge walls.

Well this really caught my attention, yet I have no idea what is it called... hmm a water basin maybe? Or a drinking fountain? Well it just impressed me how easy it was to get water for anyone. It looks like a superb way to help the environment and everyone in need, it provides services to residents and tourists who need a drink of clean water as well.

Wow what a crowd! It's great how this area attracts many tourists and even locals. So here we are the entrance to the great St. Peter's Square in the heart of Vatican City. It was Designed by Bernini and built between 1656 and 1667. There are two beautiful fountains in the square. The Square has St. Peter's Basilica, until recently it was the largest church ever built.

So that was the side of the street when we were walking towards St. Peter's Square. You could see the "Polizia", cool car! Also there's the souvenir shop, you could buy pretty handful gifts in there, and the photo shop right next to it, So go take a photo in St. Peter's Square and go back to the photo shop to print it!

Welcome to St. Peter's Square! There you could see the marvellous St. Peter's Basilica a Church that resembles the beauty of architecture. The Church is built on the Vatican hill across the Tiber River. The location is highly symbolic because it was the site where Peter the first pope was crucified and buried. St. Peter's tomb is under the main alter and other several popes were buried at the basilica as well. The shape of the square represents the church reaching it's arms out for people.

Observing the huge stone pillars you could see they're topped by statues of Saints. And as you can see there were renovations around the 25 meters long Egyptian obelisk.

Here we could see the Egyptian obelisk built of red granite weighting more than 350 tonnes more closely. It's supported by bronze lions that unfortunately we can't see in the picture because the base of the obelisk was under renovation. The obelisk was originally in helioplis-Egypt and it was moved three times until finally that's where it ended up.

Looking closely at the Basilica.

Here it's a bit dark but you can see a Swiss guard at the entrance in his colorful Renaissance-era uniforms. The Swiss Guard’s role in Vatican City is the safety of the pope. Although the world’s smallest standing army appears to be strictly ceremonial, its soldiers are extensively trained and highly skilled marksmen. I guess it's all from the nature of the Swiss.

A drinking fountain in the Basilica held by the saints.

A wall painting that caught my attention and latin right underneath.

Here are people saying a prayer.

The gigantic 26 meters high bronze baldachin over the papal altar. The masterpiece is crafted from bronze that was taken from the ceiling and pediment of the Pantheon. The design of the spiral columns was inspired by marble columns that originally adorned the crypt of the old basilica.

A statue of St. Peter made of bronze attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio. A 13th century architect and sculptor.

Hope you enjoyed the tour!