Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani)

The Vatican Museums are among the largest and most comprehensive museums in the world. The museum complex houses an extensive collection, from ancient Egyptian artifacts to the modern arts. The 12 buildings that make up the complex have been added to over time, but were designed to join the original palace with St Peter’s Basilica next door.

The holdings of the museums are wide and varied. As many of the Renaissance painters and sculptors were employed by the Popes it is no wonder the range of such works is one of the best anywhere in the world. You’ll find it hard not to be amazed by at least some pieces of art on exposition.

To help the visitor experience the multitude of highlights, the Vatican Museums have four suggested walking routes. All start near the museum entrance and end up at the Sistine chapel. There is no way you can do justice to the complete complex in one day; even concentrating on the highlights is likely to leave you exhausted. The marvel of these museums is that there is very little that can be passed over as dull, actually just about everything could be a highlight.

The different rooms of the Vatican Museums each have their own collection:

• Museo Pio Clementino: Classical statues abound here. This is where the famous sculpture of Laocoön and his sons can be found – a Trojan priest of Poseidon who warned the city against the wooden horse presented to them by the Greeks.
• Museo Etrusco: Etruscan artefacts plus a wide range of Greek vases.
• Galleria delle Carte Geografiche: This is the map gallery, housing 40 maps gigantic maps created from around 1580. The ceiling decoration here is simply stunning!
• Museo Profano, Museo Pio-Cristiano, and Museo Etnologico: These three museums are found together in the block near the entrance. They contain statues, early Christian antiquities such as some of the very first bibles ever written, and various ethnological artefacts.
• Museo Egizio: An extensive Egyptian collection.
• Pinacoteca: This is the papal picture gallery and has 460 quality paintings housed in 18 rooms.
• Galleria del Candelabri & Galleria degli Arazzi: Two galleries with a variety of marble statues and tapestries on display.
• Museo Chiaramonti: Another treasure house of marble statues.
• Stanza di Raffaello: This is the second most visited museum in the complex behind the popular Sistine Chapel. As the name implies, these rooms showcase mainly works by Raffaello.
• Sistine Chapel: No one visiting the Vatican museums will want to miss the stunning Sistine Chapel and the touches of Michelangelo’s genius. More extensive coverage of the Sistine Chapel will be featured on RomeCityTrip.com soon!