Today’s post is 1700 words, 42 photos, a 7 minute read. Enjoy!

Hi everyone,

This is the fourth post in a series from our recent visit to Rome. If you missed the first three episodes, click here, here, and here.

This week I’ll take you to an audience with Pope Francis and an afternoon at the Vatican Museums. It was a fun and exhausting day.

The Audience

Last week I wrote about picking up the tickets for the audience with the Pope at the Pontifical North American College near Trevi Fountain. The audience began at 9 AM in the Paul VI auditorium next to St. Peter’s Basilica. So it was an early rise for us, we were at the Cavour Metro station by 6 AM. It’s about a 35 minute ride to the Ottaviano station, the closet to the Vatican.

It’s about a six block walk from Ottaviano to the St. Peter’s Square and a few more blocks to the area where the line began for the entrance to the auditorium. It was just getting light as we passed St. Peter’s with the pavement still wet from the overnight rain.

The line was already a few hundred deep when we arrived. There were street vendors selling trinkets and souvenirs that would be blessed by the Pope during the audience. They were doing a good business.

While we were patiently waiting in line on the cool, overcast morning, this group of boys and men in robes walked past us. We would learn later they were the choir for the event.

At about 7:45 AM, the line began to move. First, there was a scan of the tickets and a cursory security screening. Next was the airport type screening, empty pockets, take off jacket, watch, belt, and anything with metal, then pass through the scanner. I failed the scan then got the wand and pat down treatment. As soon as we were cleared, we quickly marched to the entrance of the auditorium. We stood in line for 10-15 minutes until the doors opened to the auditorium. Then the rush was on to get a front row seat. We ended up in the second row by about 15 seconds. The auditorium seats 6300 people, not everyone can have a prime seat. It was filled to the brim on February 28, 2024.

At promptly 9 AM, Pope Francis was wheeled in to great applause and a warm welcome. You could see him smiling, it seems that he gets energy from being with the people. He has been ill and canceled some appearances. We heard later in the day that he went to the hospital for some tests after the audience. He gave the greeting and a blessing in Italian then let others read the greeting and blessing in eight languages.

The best photos I could capture were from the Jumbotron near where we were sitting. I also had some operator error problems with my camera that day so please forgive the poor quality of the photos. The program lasted about 50 minutes, if you’d like to read what Pope Francis said to the audience or watch the video of the full program, click here.

After the program, Pope Francis met with and had photos taken with groups and individuals seated in a special section of the auditorium. In front of us were couples married less than a year, some were dressed in their gowns and tuxedos. He was wheeled along and blessed each of the couples. Here are a couple of photos from the Jumbotron.

There is a bevy of photographers following the Pope as he moved around the auditorium. Photos are available for purchase within a few days after the audience. Here’s one I purchased one for 8 euros, it was delivered by email. My Traveling Partner and are the gray-haired couple on the right side of the photo peeking over the top of the front row. You can’t imagine the pushing and shoving to get to the front row just before the Pope passed by. People forgot their manners and left their virtues behind.

I did capture one photo of the Pope, look behind the woman in the foreground.

Since my photos were no prizes, I also purchased this photo of Pope Francis taken as he entered the auditorium. Look at that smile.

We had to wait to leave the hall until Pope Francis made his final rounds greeting the audience. The Swiss Guard stood by the exit door to prevent us from escaping.

We were ready for lunch after the audience so returned to the restaurant where we had lunch the previous Sunday. It was another delicious meal of pizza and a side of bruschetta. After our meal, we walked back to the Vatican Museums.

The Vatican Museums

According to the Vatican Museum website, the mission of these museums is to use art as a tool for evangelization. Music, painting, sculpture, and architecture all help the church teach the masses about the wonder of God’s creation, the beauty and dignity of humans he created in his image, the power of death and the resurrection. All the mysteries of faith promoted by the church. Their words, not mine. All I can say is there is a lot to see and absorb in the Vatican Museums.

We purchased our tickets in advance for a 1 PM timed entry on Wednesday February 28. The tickets were 25 euros each (about $26.50 USD) for the basic admission, guided tours are available in English for an additional fee, usually about double the basic admission.

When we arrived at the Museum entrance there were two lines. A long line for those purchasing admission tickets and a line for those with time entry tickets. We walked right up to the entrance and were admitted after yet another security screen.

The Vatican Museums were founded by Pope Julius in the early 1500s. The collection is immense (70,000 items with about 20,000 on display in 24 galleries) and includes the works of some well-known artists and sculptors. Think the Sistine Chapel with a ceiling painted by Michelangelo, the last building on the tour. It seems each Pope since the founding added something to the museums. Artworks purchased (some may have been confiscated) or donated by a benefactor all contributed to the vast collection. All this for about 7 million visitors per year, no wonder they have time entry and a limited number of tickets.

There are several building that hold the museum artifacts. Here’s an example of one of the building overlooking the large courtyard “Cortile della Pigna.” 

It that courtyard is the sculpture of a bronze pinecone dated to the second century. It sits on the top of a staircase designed by Michelangelo. The pinecone symbolizes enlightenment, immortality, fertility, and rebirth. Early Romans placed them on fountains and mausoleums. Early Christians used the pinecone as a symbol of Jesus who was born, died, and rose from the dead. The second photo is of the pinecone from inside the museum.

Also in the courtyard is the sculpture, “Sphere within sphere” by Arnaldo Pomodoro. It was donated to the museum in 1990. When the wind blows there is a mechanism inside that rotates slowly.

Here’s a view of the city of Rome from someplace in the museum.

There were sculpted busts from Greek and Romans times, mosaics, grave stones, the Good Shepherd sculpture, a cast of the Piata by Michelangelo, and the Greek statute Apoxyomenos. Plus hundreds like them.

I liked the Hall of Animals, two rooms of animal sculptures. To me they were very realistic, I admired the work of the artists.

The Circular Hall, also known as the Round Hall, is an imitation of the Pantheon. The basin in the center once was in a public space in Rome.

As we walked along, there was a long room (800 feet) of huge tapestries most of them hundreds of years old. Twelve of the tapestries to depict the life of Christ were designed by Raphael, one of the most important painters of the Renaissance. He made the designs and had them sent to Brussels where they were woven. His rooms of painting was my favorite part of our time at the museum.

The tapestries were followed by the Gallery of Maps. Here a family views the map of Italy. Many of the maps were made in late 1500s. Quite a feat.

The ceiling of the Map Room was itself a work of art. The work was intricate and beautiful.

After the maps, we passed through the four Raphael Rooms with painted frescoes covering nearly every square inch of the rooms. I thought they were beautiful, my favorite in the museum.

The last room on the tour is the Sistine Chapel. The place was crowded making it difficult to take in the beauty and message painted on the ceiling by Michelangelo. The world knows it as the place where the papal conclave is held when selecting a new pope. Over the years, observers have watched for the white smoke to emerge from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel announcing that a new pope has been selected.

Upon entering the Sistine Chapel, silence and reverence are expected. However, on this, our second visit, security personnel had to continually remind the crowds to be quiet. In addition, photos are not allowed but there were folks snapping away with their cell phones. We refrained and tried to concentrate on absorbing the site of the ceiling and understand its meaning.

There are benches along the walls, it took a while but we were able to snag a couple of spots. After about 20 minutes we left and headed for the exits. It was after 5 PM.

The last artwork we saw was the new Bramante Staircase, a double-helix design. It’s actually a ramp interrupted by a few steps. It capped off a nice visit.

The final word: there is so much to see at the Vatican Museum, a half-day isn’t enough time to do it justice. I would either spend a whole day with lots of breaks, or splurge for tickets for two half-days. Some people only come for the Sistine Chapel, that’s fine but they are missing a lot of interesting works of art.

After leaving the museum, we stopped for refreshments before getting on the Metro. We were entertained by a pigeon checking for scraps on the tables near us. The Metro was busy, it was quitting time, everyone was in a hurry to get home including us.

Next week, I’ll take you to Naples and Pompeii.

Until then, happy travels!

Tom