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| Rome vacation guide - the Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel |
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| The Vatican City - has been the smallest independent state of Europe since 1929, as a result of the Lateran Treaties between the Italian State and the Catholic Church. |
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| St. Peter's Basilica - was erected during the Constantine Empire, replacing the Nero Circus, where Peter, one of the apostles, was martyred and buried in A.D. 324. Before 1309, when the Pope moved to Avignone, the pontifical court was in St. John Lateran. In 1377, when the pontifical court came back to Rome, the Pope Nicholas V decided to rebuild a new Basilica, but the work was interruppted till 1503 when the Pope Julius II gived the project to Bramante. The best artists of the Renaissance and Baroque periods worked on this project that lasted for more than 100 years. The Basilica is nowadays 187 m. long and 132 m. high and is the heart of Christianity. Photo: St. Peter's Basilica. Inside it, don't miss to admire: |
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| The Holy Door - opened every 25 years for the Jubilee. |
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| The bronze baldachin - by Bernini in the centre of the church. |
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| The Pietà - carved by Michelangelo when he was young. |
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| The Tomb of St. Peter, The Statue of Pius VI by Canova, The Bronze Statue of St. Peter. |
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| The Treasure - under the monument in memory of Pius VIII is the entrance to the Sacricristies, a series of rooms where we can admire the colllection of gifts given to the Pope from 1300 (the first Jubilee) to present. |
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| The Sacred Grottoes - within one of the pillars that support the Dome, we find the stairway to get to the Grottoes. Here are the tombs of 20 popes, many cardinals, an emperor and a lot of works of art, a sign of the Old Basilica. |
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| St. Peter Square - is the largest one of Rome (314 meters long), its centre is occupied by an Egyptian Obelisk 25 metres high, and two fountains: by Maderno on the right and by Fontana on the left. The wonderful colonnade was made by Bernini in the middle of the 17th century and the facade was built by Maderno at the beginning of A.D. 1600. |
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The Dome - finished by Della Porta following the original project of Michelangelo, who died before the end of the works. Thanks to a lift, we get to a terrace overhanging the central nave and 92 meters high. Here we find the stairs to the Loggia that surrounds the skylight. Photo: St. Peter's Dome. |
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| The Vatican Museums - are a group of palaces with about 10.000 rooms, galleries, libraries, halls, gardens, full of works of art of every kind. They include: The Chiaramonti Museum - houses a series of Greek-Roman works, statues, sacophagi, reliefs, and many Egyptian statues, brought to Rome by Augustus. The Pio Clementino Museum - houses the porphyry vase from the Thermae of Titus, the Statue of Apollo, the Laocoon (an original Hellenistic works of the 1st century B.C.) the Athlete of Lysippus. Raphael's Rooms - Raphael was introduced to the Pope Julius II by Bramante, and the Pope gave Raphael the project to paint several rooms of the Vatican apartment. |
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| The Sistine Chapel - in 1475 the Pope Sixtus IV decided to build the Sistine Chapel, an essential building, isolated from the other buildings and fortified. In 1483, the best painters of the Renaissance started working here. Perugino, Botticelli, and others, illustrated the Old and New Testaments. In 1508, the Pope Julius II ordered Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Chapel. He worked 3 years to paint a surface of 800 square meters, famous are the Episodes from Genesis. After 23 years, Michelangelo painted the Last Judgement fresco on the wall behind the altar. The Vatican Picture Gallery - the Pope Pius XI built this Gallery in 1932 to placed the Vatican collection started in 1800 by Pius VI. Here we find the best works of art by: Giotto, Cimabue, Beato Angelico, Melozzo da Forlì, Perugino, Raphael, Crivelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Domenichino, Caravaggio, and a room dedicated to the Modern Art. |
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| Basilica of Rome |
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| St. Mary Major - built in A.D. 365 on the Esquiline Hill, has the highest bell tower of Rome. The present facade was rebuilt in the 18th century. Wonderful mosaics can be admired on the walls of the central nave (6th century), and on the apse (13th century). St. John in Lateran - cathedral of Rome and Papal seat until the Pope had to move to Avignone. Borromini worked on this cathedral for the Jubilee Year A.D. 1650. Its facade was rebuilt in the 18th century and inside it a tabernacle of the 15th century can be admired together with a cloister from the 13th century. St. Paul (Via Ostiense) - built by Emperor Constantine over the place where the Apostle of the People had been buried. The present Basilica was built in the middle of the 19th century following a fire in A.D. 1823 that destroyed the old Basilica. It still preserves the bronze door of the 11th century. Inside, you'll see the ciborium by Arnolfo di Cambio (13th century) and the mosaic on the apse (13th century). |
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