Vatican City located within Rome happens to be a sovereign state and the smallest country with some of the most important religious, cultural and iconic landmarks is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It houses the famous St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the pope and is also known as the Papal Palace. It is a major tourist attraction and is famous for its Raphael’s Rooms and the impressive Sistine Chapel adorned with frescos by Michelangelo. Beneath the grandiose structure of St. Peter’s Basilica lies a concealed crypt known as the Vatican Necropolis or Vatican Scavi. Necropolis was a Roman cemetery with tombs that were excavated from 1940-49 under the orders given by Pope Pius XII to excavate the burial site. Vatican Gardens or the Gardens of Vatican City are gardens and parks which cover an area of twenty-three hectares and showcase medieval-aged monuments and buildings dating to the 9th century.
Vatican Museums
An ideal place to visit which well preserves the collection of art and artefacts which were accumulated by the papacy starting from the seventeenth century onwards. The founder of the Vatican Museums was Pope Julius II in the early sixteenth century. There are around twenty-four galleries and fifty-four museums that contain seventy thousand works of art and out of which only twenty thousand are displayed. The Stanze di Raffaello which was decorated by Raphael and the Sistine Chapel with its adorned ceiling and altar wall by Michelangelo featured on the route of the Vatican Museums. The first asset purchased by the museum was Laocoon and His Sons which was displayed after its discovery in 1506. The Spiral Staircase is a double-helix staircase at the Pio Clementine Museum which is known as Scala Elicoidale designed by Giuseppe Momo in 1932. Gregorian Etruscan Museum which was founded by Pope Gregory XVI in 1836 consists of eight galleries and includes artefacts like vases, a sarcophagus and a collection of Guglielmi di Vulci Marquises.
Apostolic Palace
The Apostolic Palace also known as the Vatican Palace is the papal residence located in the Vatican City and lies north of St Peter’s Basilica. Apostolic Palace is a must-visit tourist attraction as it houses a number of chapels and the most notable highlights are the Sistine Chapel perhaps one of the best and most popular palace chapel named in honour of Sixtus IV is famous for its frescos by Renaissance artists like Botticelli, Michelangelo and Pietro Perugino the four Stanze di Raffaello are the suite rooms known for its frescos by artists working with Raphael were originally planned as suite apartments for Pope Julius II and the Borgia Apartment which was opened for public viewing in 2019 were used personally by Pope Alexander VI who ordered Italian painter Pinturicchio To decorate the apartments with paintings and frescoes. The Vatican Palace also houses a number of offices of the Holy See (the government of the Roman Catholic Church) which are led by the Pope who is the bishop of Rome, private chapels and rooms like the Pauline Chapel and Sala Regia.
St Peter’s Basilica
Apart from the Vatican Museums another major tourist attraction of the Vatican City is the St Peter’s Basilica. The Basilica was designed by great artists like Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The church is influenced by the Renaissance form of architecture situated in Vatican City. Originally planned by Pope Nicholas V was later taken over by Pope Julius II to replace the Old St Peter’s Basilica which was built in the fourth century by Constantine the Great. The basilica is the burial site of Saint Peter who was the chief among the twelve apostles of Jesus. It is considered one of the holiest places of worship by Catholics and Christendom. One of the most impressive features of the church is the Dome which was designed by Michelangelo and was continued and completed by one of his pupils Giacomo Della Porta. The church has the capacity to hold nearly twenty thousand devotees and is famous for its ceremonial services.
Chiesa Di Sant Anna dei Palafrenieri
Besides the Apostolic Palace, another tourist attraction is the Chiesa di Sant Anna dei Palafrenieri. The church is a Catholic church also known as Saint Anne of the Grooms which is in reverence to Saint Anne and located in Vatican City it was inaugurated in 1583. It was designed by Borromini and Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and is an example of a sixteenth-century oval-shaped church. It is located near Porta Sant Anna which is an international border crossing between Italy and the state of Vatican City.
