Veni, Vidi, Vici - Rome, the Grand Finale!

I signed off my last post with us about to cross the Tiber. It was time to leave Italy for a few hours as our next destination was the sovereign city state of Vatican City (no passports required). 

It may be the world's smallest nation but the sightseeing opportunities are huge.

Within minutes of crossing the Pont Sant'Angelo, St Peter's Basilica appeared on the horizon. The largest church in the world and the headquarters of the Catholic Church, St Peter's was constructed between 1506 and 1626. 

The square in front of the Basilica, known as Piazza San Pietro, is one of the most famous squares globally. 

Not being in the least bit religious, our reason for visiting The Vatican was for the art. We'd booked online the day before and our timed passes were for 4.30pm although, even with passes, the queue was huge but security dealt with it quickly and efficiently, moving anyone who'd got there too early into a separate line. As with the Colosseum, there are lots of third party websites selling tickets for up to three times their face value (€20) - the official website is HERE.

The vast Vatican Museums consist of ten collections, the Sistine Chapel and the Papal Apartments. We started with the highlights, visiting the lesser-visited Pinacoteca, to the right of the entrance.

I absolutely loved these remnants of the Vatican fresco (below), which was destroyed in 1711 and were painted by Melozzo da Forlì around 1480. Those hairstyles wouldn't look out of place in Studio 54 in the 1970s! 

Saint Sebastian, the burly middle-aged soldier who became a homoerotic icon. This version was painted in around 1570, the artist unknown.  

Lamentation over the dead Christ, c. 1475 by Giovanni Bellini (1432 - 1516)

I saw the Derek Jarman film, Caravaggio at the ABC cinema in Walsall in 1986. It took me another forty years to see one of his paintings in real life but it was worth the wait. How magnificent is his The Entombment of Christ (1603 - 1604)?

 

Laocoön and His Sons, believed to be created on Rhodes in around 200 BCE and praised by Pliny The Elder. After watching numerous documentaries about it during Lockdown, its wonderful to see it in real life. 

  We'd have needed a month to see everything on display and were already a little overwhelmed by what we'd seen so far. As we passed through each hall, the artwork seemed to get even more opulent and dazzling. 

The Gallery of Maps contains a series of painted topographical maps of Italy based on drawings by the friar and geographer Ignazio Banti. It was commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII in 1580 and took Danti's brother, Antonio, three years to complete the 40 panels of the 120m long gallery.

The Martyrdom of Saint Alexander of Bergamo by Ponziano Loverini (1845 – 1929)

The Hall of Constantine was decorated by the school of Raphael, working to the artist's original drawings after he died prematurely, before the work was completed in 1520. Constantine (306 - 337 CE) was the first Roman emperor to recognise Christianity and to allow freedom of worship. 

The four rooms known as the Stanze of Raphael (Raphael's Rooms) formed part of the apartment situated on the second floor of the Pontifical Palace that was chosen by Julius II (Pope from 1503 to 1513) as his own residence and used also by his successors. The pictorial decoration was executed by Raphael from 1508 - 1520) and finished by his school from 1520 until 1524.

I absolutely loved the contemporary art section. After the bling and opulence of the earlier rooms here the work was more subtle and pared down.

It was great to see Dali, Chagall, Picasso and Francis Bacon and also Graham Sutherland, the artist responsible for the awe-inspiring tapestry at Coventry Cathedral which I'd visited with Nikki before Xmas (HERE).

As we continued through the halls, the crowds became almost giddy with excitement, the Sistine Chapel was imminent! 

Photography (and talking) are forbidden in the Sistine Chapel so I can't share Michaelangelo's masterpiece. All I can say is go...you won't ever forget it. One young woman passed out while we were there but I think that was more to do with her wearing a heavy wool cape than seeing The Creation of Adam in real life!

And just when it couldn't get more spectacular, just look at the stairs from which we excited the Vatican.

Created by Giusepe Momo in 1932, the Bramante Stairs were inspired by the original, designed by Donato Bramante in 1505 and believed to have inspired New York's Guggenheim. The twin scissor staircases are ramped, as per the original design with the intention of allowing uninterrupted, two-way traffic for both people and animals.

By the time we left the Sistine chapel we'd walked over 10 miles so treated ourselves to a taxi home (well, to the pub!)

After a couple of pints we'd recovered sufficently to manage walk to our favourite osteria for our last Roman supper....meatballs (Jon), Ravioli (Tony) and my favourite spaghetti!

The following morning, after breakfast, we bade farewell to the goddess of the dining room, paid our city tax at reception and headed back to the airport. 

If you love classical history, ruins, art and great food I can't recommend Rome highly enough. It's a fabulous city, multicultural, bustling, glamorous and down-to-earth. If, like us, you're not restricted by school holidays and can travel out of season there's some real bargains out there. 

It was the second time we'd flown since the new Entry/Exit System (EES) fingerprint & photo recognition system was introduced (Brexit, the gift that keeps giving) but happily for us, travelling with no check-in baggage we've not (yet) encountered any delays and were through security and sitting the the departure lounge within 15 minutes of arriving at the airport. If you can't travel without check-in bags, Independent travel editor, the wonderful Simon Calder, recommends you get to the airport four hours before your return flight leaves.

The view from my seat, and don't The Alps look wonderful?

Our Jet2 flights allowed a carry on bag weighing up to 10kg (to go in the overhead locker) as well as a small personal bag to stow underneath the seat in front. I wore my Mythical Beasts maxi, my fedora, my boots and my suede coat to travel in and stuffed the remaining two maxi dresses, cap and cord tote bag in my holdall.  

That's only the first of three 60th birthdays we're celebrating this year..there's also Jon's and mine...where will we go?