After lunch we will pass by the
Piazza Venezia. The one landmark dominating Piazza Venezia is Il Vittoriano, a monument dedicated to king
Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of Italy.
Vatican City is up next. Vatican City State was founded following the signing of the Lateran Pacts between the Holy See and Italy on February 11th 1929. These were ratified on June 7th 1929.
We begin the afternoon with a visit to the Vatican Museums. There are too many to see in one day, so our focus will be on the
Sistine Chapel, though there may be time to visit some of the
other museums in the complex.
The Cappella Maggiore is recorded as existing in 1368, according to a communication from Andreas of Trebizond to Pope Sixtus IV. By the time of its demolition to make way for the present chapel, the Cappella Maggiore was in a ruinous state with its walls leaning.
The present chapel known as the Sistine Chapel, on the site of the Cappella Maggiore, was designed by Baccio Pontelli for Pope Sixtus IV, for whom it is named, and built under the supervision of Giovannino de Dolci between 1473 and 1481. The proportions of the present chapel appear to closely follow those of the original. After its completion, the chapel was decorated with frescoes by a number of the most famous artists of the High Renaissance, including Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Perugino, and Michelangelo.
Be sure to purchase your
Vatican Museum Tickets here. Select September 2010 and the number of tickets, then click NEXT. On the calendar select September
16 and when the times come on the screen. select 2PM (1400). Follow the instruction from there. Note: No photos or videos are allowed to be taken in the chapel. If you really must have a short video, ask G and he will give you a copy of the one he swears he never took.
St. Peter's Basilica is next. St. Peter's Basilica is a major basilica in Vatican City, an enclave of Rome. St. Peter's was until recently the largest church ever built (since 1989 the largest is Our Lady of Peace, a basilica in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast) and it remains one of the holiest sites in Christendom. Contrary to what one might reasonably assume, St. Peter's is not a cathedral - that honor in Rome goes to St. John Lateran.
What’s the difference between a basilica and a cathedral, you ask?
Originally the term basilica described a large public building. Such buildings usually contained interior colonnades that divided the space, giving aisles or arcaded spaces at one or both sides, with an apse at one end (or less often at each end), where the magistrates sat, often on a slightly raised dais. After the Roman Empire became officially Christian, the term came by extension specifically to refer to a large and important church that has been given special ceremonial rites by the Pope. Thus the word retains two senses today, one architectural and the other ecclesiastical.
On the other hand, a cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop. In more detailed terms it is a religious building for worship, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox and some Lutheran churches, which serves as a bishop’s seat, and thus as the central church of a diocese.
As for architectural considerations, a cathedral may be amongst the grandest of churches in the diocese or a modest structure. Early Celtic and Saxon cathedrals, for example, tended to be of diminutive size, as is the Byzantine so-called Little Metropole Cathedral of Athens.
In order to get the most out of your visit inside St. Peter's, I suggest you
visit here for a great narrative of each section of the basilica, and print out a
map of St. Peter's here or
here so you know what you're seeing.
A visit to the
Pantheon follows. The Pantheon is a magnificent ancient temple in Rome. Dating from about 125 AD, this is the most complete ancient building in Rome and one of the city's most spectacular sights. When constructed, the Pantheon was dedicated to pan theos, "all the gods." When it became a church, it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and all the martyrs.
Until the 20th century, the Pantheon was the largest concrete structure in the world. Michelangelo studied its great dome before starting work on the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. It is the burial place of several important Italians (including the artist Raphael), and it remains an active church.
Then it's time to toss coins in the fountain, the
Trevi Fountain. The Trevi Fountain, inspired by Roman triumphal arches, is the largest and most famous Baroque fountain in Rome standing 25.9 meters high and 19.8 meters wide. The Trevi Fountain as we know it today, was designed by Nicola Salvi in 1732 and competed in 1762.
The last stop on the tour will be the
Spanish Steps. The Spanish Steps (Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti in Italian) are, as the name suggests, a long and grand staircase in Rome which connects two piazze – the Piazza di Spagna at the base and the Piazza Trinità dei Monti at the top. The stairway was built in the 1720s in an effort to connect the Vatican with the Spanish embassy. The building at the top of the steps is the Trinità dei Monti, a church built in the 16th century.
Next stop: Messina!
