TOUR OF THE VATICAN MUSEUM WITH DRIVER GUIDE
The Vatican Museums have an exceptional importance for the wealth and the prestige of the masterpieces put together by various Popes during the centuries, as their sumptuous disposition. The Museums are constituted by a group of great buildings and endless rooms, saloons, museums, galleries, bookstores, chapels, corridors, courtyards and gardens enriched of treasures of art of every type. From the Renaissance there was no great artist that an indelible imprint of its genius didn't leave .
We like to go visiting the vatican especially because of its art work and its colorful frescoes: when in Rome you do not have to skip the tour to the sistine chapel where you will learn how the pope is elected by the cardinals.
The Museum Chiaramonti was founded by Pope Pio VII° Chiaramonti (1800-1823) and it is constituted by the Gallery Chiaramonti, the Lapidary Gallery and the New Wing.
The Museum Pio Clementino owes its name to Pope Clemente XIV° (1769-1775) and to his successor Pope Pio VI° (1775-1799) and it is formed by the Bathroom of the Apoxyomenos, the Octagonal courtyard of the Belvedere, the Bathroom of Apollo, of Laocoonte, of Hermes and from that of Perseo, the Room of the Animals, the Gallery of the Statues and the Busts, the Bathroom of the Masks, the Room of the Muses, the Round Room and the Room of the Greek Cross.
After entering the vatican and having bought the tickets you start this magic trip along the galleries of the XVIII century towards back to the centuries and you will end directly to the famous chapel frescoed by Michelangelo and Botticelli with Bible episodes.
The Vatican Library is the most important in Europe for the antiquity and the wealth of its manuscripts and for the rarity of its books. It is divided in various sections: rooms, chapels, galleries and finally from the Laic Museum.
The Rooms of Raphael, that start to be painted while Michelangelo started the decoration of the vault of the Sistine Chapel (1508), contain the room of Costantine, Raphael's galleries, Nicola's V° chapel, the room of Eliodorus, the room of the Signature (center of the Ecclesiastic Tribunal) and the room of the fire of the Borgo, painted for last from the artist (1514-1517), with the suggestive group of Enea, Anchise and Ascanio, clear allusion to the fire of Troy.
Please note:
-dress respectfully for visiting religious monuments; local custom requires covering knees and shoulders
-keep an eye on your wallet and purses at all time. Do not wear jewerly or carry large amount of cash: you need cahs only to buy the admission fees once inside
-The Vatican Museums (and the Sistine Chapel) are always closed on Sundays (except the last of each month),and also on; January 1st and 6th, February 11th, March 19th, April 1st, May 1st, 9th and 30th, June 29th, August 14th and 15th, November 1st, December 8th, 25th and 26th.
Large panels are exhibited outside the gardens of the Vatican at disposal of the guides to show the customers the biggest enterprise an artist could ever do: the ceiling of the sistine chapel painted by Buonarroti alone and which made affecting Michelangelo's health.
Phone: (+39) 333/7413375
