Vatican Reviews (Rome, Italy)

The Vatican

Merritt Island, Florida

May 19, 2003

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Now, I found the Vatican great and all but I guess my expectations were bigger. The art, the atmosphere, the history was great. The standing for 3 hours to get in wasn't. The guy standing in the Sistine Chapel "sshh" was kinda funny but not that ...Read more

From journal European Whirlwind

Vatican

by Jctravel1983

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

November 30, 2010

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Best of IgoUgo IntroductionWhen you are in Rome you just have to visit the famous Vatican! What is it?It is a small state (44 hectares) in the world with its own control. The territory of that State is located in Rome. It is built on a hill, Mont Vaticanus. In ...Read more

From journal Going to Rome!

The Vatican City - House of The Pope

by Absy_Baby

Radlett, United Kingdom

October 16, 2009

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Best of IgoUgo On a recent trip to Rome I visited the Vatican State - this was mainly due to the fact I had just read Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. I would have gone anyway but I felt I already knew so much about the state from reading the book. Therefore I was ...Read more

From journal When In Room

Vatican City

by Jarde

Oxford, United Kingdom

August 29, 2005

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If you are not spending long in the Vatican City, it is a good idea to choose carefully which queue you join. We joined the one going to the top of the cupola of St. Peter's, mistakenly thinking that it was for the Sistine Chapel! Although St. ...Read more

From journal The Eternal City

Vatican City

by leopardgrrrl88

Kent, Ohio

July 14, 2005

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Vatican City is a quaint experience in itself. The smallest sovereign state in the world, the Vatican even has its own post office. All that work in Vatican City must be good Catholics. I enjoyed seeing such a unique little place. If you go ...Read more

From journal Italia

Vatican

by de Witt

Gilbert, Arizona

June 10, 2002

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Save a week or two for the world’s smallest country. Besides the Sistine Chapel, thousands of famous relics, and the incredible tomb of the popes, there’s the Basilica di San Pietro. The Cathedral alone can hold 60,000 people, and was designed by ...Read more

From journal Rome, the Vatican and Italy

Vatican City and St. Peter's

by Jglassb311

Santa Cruz, California

August 11, 2004

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We almost missed Vatican City, and thank God (no pun intended) we didn't. We made our way to the Vatican by underground. It was easy and painless, and went on a day when it wasn't too warm. After a prerequisite gelato, we got in line to go into ...Read more

From journal To Roma, To Roma...

Vatican City and St. Peter's

by Carmen

Cary, North Carolina

July 1, 2004

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Best of IgoUgo It’s hard to believe you’re walking into a whole different country as you enter into Vatican City – with the Pope as the ruler. Ironically enough, however, St. Peter’s church is not the highest church in Catholicism, nor is it the Popes’ church, ...Read more It’s hard to believe you’re walking into a whole different country as you enter into Vatican City – with the Pope as the ruler. Ironically enough, however, St. Peter’s church is not the highest church in Catholicism, nor is it the Popes’ church, though he does live there.

St. Peter was martyred here, or so the story goes, hung on a cross upside down so that he wouldn’t die in the same way as his master and teacher. When the Pope is asked if the bones within the church are those of St. Peter, his response is “definitely maybe.” Can’t argue with that now, can you?

We waited in what seemed to be a very, very long line – but it only turned out to be about a 25 minute wait. Entrance into the church is free, but when you go, make sure that you’re dressed properly. They will pull you out of line if your shoulders are not covered or if your knees are not covered (I noticed they made some exceptions for small children, I think it’s more a matter of modesty) and you’ll stand in line first and waste your time. You’ll also have to go through a security checkpoint (how sad that you must do this to enter a sacred place) though I noticed that the guards were doing more talking and smoking than watching the screens on the scanners. If you so choose, you can stand in another line to go up into the dome. I stood in that line for a half hour and still couldn’t see the end of the line, so gave up and got out of line.

Inside the church, you can see the Holy Doors, only opened in Holy Years, Michelangelo’s Pieta (a sculpture of Mary holding a crucified Jesus, surrounded by glass thanks to some crappy person who tried to destroy it back in the 70s), the statue of St. Peter, who’s toe is rubbed by the touch of pilgrims (yes, I stood in the line to touch the toes, too) and the Baldacchino – otherwise known as God’s four-poster bed that stands above the supposed tomb of St. Peter.

While not Catholic myself, I could appreciate the religious significance as a Christian. I’m glad I took the time to go to Vatican City and see St. Peter’s. I highly recommend this as an activity while in Rome.

Basilica open 7a.m.-7p.m. daily, the dome from 8 a.m. – 5:45 p.m. The Pope holds an audience in the plaza on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Close

From journal We Who Love Rome Salute You!

Vatican Museum

by millsy99

Knoxville, Tennessee

July 19, 2001

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The Vatican Museum is huge and overwhelmingly ornate. You could spend a week inside and not see everything. They have separated the collections into categories like Egyptian, Etruscan, modern religious, etc. to help you organize your time. We had ...Read more

From journal ROME

Amazing Vatican

by katja

New York City, New York

March 15, 2003

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The Vatican was amazing. From the minute we walked into San Piedro square, we stood there with our jaws dropped, just amazed at the sight of it all. The St. Peter's Basilica was huge and inside was just stunning. We spent a lot of time there. They ...Read more

From journal Enjoying Rome

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