Vatican Museum
The Vatican Museums are one of the largest and oldest museum collections in the world. They are located within Vatican City and are the location of the Sistine Chapel.
Vatican Museums
With over 40 rooms viewable by the public containing thousands of pieces of art, the sheer size of the complex surprises most visitors.
The majority of the museums are rooms of ancient Roman sculpture and Renaissance paint work. You have to go through the Vatican Museums to get to the Sistine Chapel so all tours, including my own, start there.
Once inside, you have a choice of which route to take. Since the year 2000 the museums have been a one way system. Seeing all of the Museums would take about 4/5 hours, half would take 2, the minimum route lasts 1 hour before you can see the chapel. This is the same regardless of what guide or tour you choose.
Sections of the Vatican Museums
Entrance and North side of the Museums:
Pinacoteca
Garden overlook
Pine Cone Courtyard
Pio Clementine Museum
This Section was built by two Popes; Clement XIV Ganganelli (1769-1774) and Pius VI Braschi (1775-1799):
The Octagonal Courtyard
The Hall of Muses
The Round Room
The Room of the Greek Cross
Gallery of the Candelabra
Chiaramonti Museum
The Chiaramonti Museum is is named after pope Pius VII Chiaramonti (1800-1823) and is one long room linking the Papal Residence to the older Museum and a new wing or Braccio Nuovo:
The Gallery of the Busts
The Braccio Nuovo
Newer Vatican Museums Sections
Other rooms have been created and updated by Popes:
Tapestry Gallery
Gallery of the Maps
Sobieski Room Room of the Immaculate Conception
The Raphael Rooms
The Raphael Rooms were a set of Papal Apartments paid for by Pope Julius II (1503-1513) who didn’t want to sleep where his Borgia predecessor Alexander VI had slept. They were decorated by Raphael Sanzio and his assistants Giovanni Francesco Penni and Giulio Romano.
The Raphael Rooms
Borgia Apartments
The Borgia Apartments are where Pope Alexander VI (1492 – 1503) slept, they were primary decorated by Pinturicchio and his assistants:
The Borgia Apartments
The Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel was built by Pope Sixtus IV, hence the name – there is not another 15 of them, and is the private chapel of the Pope and where most Popes have been elected since 1482. It was decorated by various people including Ghirlandaio, Perugino, Botticelli and later Michelangelo.
The Sistine Chapel
The Vatican Library
The Vatican Library housed the library and archives of the Vatican State, now are are long corridor leading to exit of the museums.
The Vatican Library
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