May 10 - Rome - the Vatican Museums and Saint Peters

Good morning Italy! The port in Citavecheccia is very large and we enjoyed watching  as we docked.  They have trucks here to pull the big ropes to anchor the ship to the dock which makes much more sense that the hand pulling we saw in Toulon. They must have a better union here.  After a lovely breakfast we headed off to the exit and had to wait in a very long line for what seemed like a very  long time.
We had pre-booked our own skip-the-line to the Vatican and all we had to do was get there. We thought maybe the fast train in to Rome from Cittavecchia, but the line was so long and it took forever to get off the ship. We decided maybe a taxi would be the way to go. When we finally got off the ship and went to the taxi area the cab driver said we had to wait for more people in the cab. What? Then we asked him how long we would have to wait before he went to Rome as we had tickets for the vatican and he said he would give us a tour of Rome. We said "no we just wanted a ride to the vatican". He was busy waiting for more people and we were not happy with his solution of dropping us off during his tour of Rome.
The two shuttles that take people off the pier were gone and there was a line up waiting for the next one. We were starting to get that desperate feeling one gets when you are stuck in traffic and going to miss your train. We decided to approach the gentlemen holding name cards as they had private tours booked and maybe they had room for two just into Rome. They were leaving before the cabs were filling up so what would it hurt to ask.

Yes , one gentleman said he would take us after he checked with his group as they were four and he had room for two more.  He also asked if we would mind not telling the taxi driver as he was not actually allowed to do that. Oh my god, this is getting complicated. We just wanted to get to rome. The ladies on the tour said absolutely join them and so we walked down to the van and all piled in. As we were leaving our driver asked us to say, if we were asked,  that we had joined our friends and that was all. Well the taxi driver saw us and started yelling at our driver and then went to report him to someone. Our driver thought we might get stopped as we tried to leave the port but we were not and so he relaxed and proceeded to tell us all about how the mafia runs everything in Italy.

So for 80 Euros, 40 euros each we got a lovely scenic ride to Rome in 45 minutes. Our driver said that if we wanted we could catch a ride back with him  and told us where to meet hime at what time but we said no thank you as we had plans to take the train back.

We thanked him for getting us to the Vatican in time for our skip the line ticket time of 11 am jumped out of the vehicle and waved them on ;to a wonderful tour of Rome.

We asked a young gentleman in a uniform which line we should be in and he told us to go to the front of the line and show our pass to another gentleman there. We did that and just like that, we were inside. Just like that, no waiting, no fuss and it was starting to get hot out too so we were glad to get out of the sun.
A quick security check and scan  and then a bit of a wider to find out where to hand in our  computer printed tickets to get our passes. a few false starts but success at last and after a few minutes wait in a short line we were going up the escalator to go through security again ( they have a few to go through which didn't really bother us at all as we do not mind being safe and knowing it).
They gave us a map of the Museum and our audio guides and we decided to start in the Etruscan Rooms. We thought that there would be more escalators after the first long one but there were only stairs... lots of stairs to get there.

Wikipedia says "The Vatican Museums are the museums of the  Vatican City and are located within the city's boundaries. They display works from the immense collection built up by the Popes throughout the centuries including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and most important masterpieces of  Renaissance art in the world. Pope Julius II founded the museums in the early 16th century. The Sistine Chapel with its ceiling decorated by Michelangelo and the Stanze di Raffaello decorated by Raphael are on the visitor route through the Vatican Museums. In 2013, they were visited by 6 million people, which combined makes it the 6th most visited art museum in the world.  (I believe that as there were a lot of people there when we were)

There are 54 galleries, or sale, in total, with the Sistine Chapel notably, being the very last sala within the Museum. It is one of the largest museums in the world. (Again, so true ,very much toes and lots of walking)

Museo Gregoriano Etrusco

Founded by Pope Gregory XVI in 1836, this museum has eight galleries and houses important Etruscan pieces, coming from archeological excavations. the pieces include: vases, sarcophagus, bronzes and the Guglielmi Collection. 
(Love those Etruscans)

Museo Pio-Clementine

The museum takes its name from two popes, Clement XIV and Pius VI, the pope who brought the museum to completion. Clement XIV came up with the idea of creating a new museum in Innocent VIII's Belvedere palace and started the refurbishment work.

Pope Clement XIV founded the Pio-Clementino museum in 1771, and originally it contained the Renaissance and antique works. The museum and collection were enlarged by Clement's successor Pius VI. Today, the museum houses works of Greek and Roman sculpture. Some notable galleries are:

• Greek Cross Gallery: (Sala a Croce Greca): with the  porphyri sacarphagi of Constance and Saint Helen, daughter and mother of Constantine the Great. 

• Sala Rotonda: shaped like a miniature Pantheon, the room has impressive ancient mosaics on the floors, and ancient statues lining the perimeter, including a gilded bronze statue of  Hercules. 
• (This gallery was roped off but we could see the inside and it was lovely)

• Gallery of the Statues (Galleria delle Statue): as its name implies, holds various important statues, including Sleeping Ariadne and the bust of Menander. It also contains the Barberini Candelabra.

• Gallery of the Busts (Galleria dei Busti): Many ancient busts are displayed.
• Cabinet of the Masks (Gabinetto delle Maschere): The name comes from the mosaic on the floor of the gallery, found in Villa Adriana,  which shows ancient theater masks. Along the walls, several famous statues are shown including the Three Graces. One wove the thread of life,second nurtured it, third cut it. They were created by Zeus (ROMAN form: Jupiter)

• Sala delle Muse: Houses the statue group of Apollo and the nine muses, uncovered in a Roman villa near  Tivoli  in 1774, as well as and statues by important ancient Greek or Roman sculptors. the center piece is Belvedere Torso, revered by Michelangelo and other Renaissance men.
• Sala degli Animali: So named because of the many ancient statues of animals.

Museo Charamonti  

This museum is named after Pope Pius VII whose last name was Chiaramonti before his election as pope), who founded it in the early 19th century. The museum consists of a large arched gallery in which sides are exhibited several statues, sarcophaguses and friezes. The New Wing, Braccio Nuovo built by Raffaele Stern, houses important statues like The Prima Porta  Agustus, Doryphorus, and The River Nile. Galeria Lapidaria is another part of Chiaramonti museum, with more than 3,000 stone tablets and inscriptions, which is the world's greatest collection of its kind. However, it is opened only by special permission, usually for reasons of study.

Museo Gregoriano Egiziano  This museum houses a grand collection of Ancient Egyptian material. Such material includes papyruses, the Grassi Collection, animal mummies, and reproductions of the famous Book of the Dead. The Museo Gregoriano Egiziano was inaugurated 2 February 1839 to commemorate the anniversary of Gregory XVI's accession to the papacy. The creation of the Museo Gregoriano Egiziano was particularly close to the pope's heart as he Believed the Understanding of the ancient Egyptian civilization was vital in terms of its scientific importance as well as its value in understanding the old testament. This Felling was declared in a paper by the museums first curator, the skilled physiologist barbanite father Luigi Maria Ungarelli.

The Gallery of Maps is a gallery located on the west side of the Belvedere Courtyard in the Vatican containing a series of painted topographical maps of Italy based on drawings by friar and geographer Ignazio Danti. When We first came into this room we thought we were in the sistine chapel. the ceiling was absolutely gorgeous. Of course we soon realized our mistake and hoped that the Sistine chapel would be as pretty.

The gallery was commissioned in 1580 by Pope Gregory XIII as part of other artistic works commissioned by the Pope to decorate the Vatican.  It took Danti three years (1580–1583) to complete the 40 panels of the 120 m long gallery.

The four Raphael Rooms form a suite of reception rooms in the palace, the public part of the papal apartments in the Palace of the Vatican. They are famous for their frescoes,  painted by  Raphael and his workshop. Together with  Michelangelo's ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, they are the grand fresco sequences that mark the  High Renaissance in Rome. (Again, absolutely wonderful to behold)

The Stanze, as they are commonly called, were originally intended as a suite of apartments for Pope Julius II. He commissioned Raphael, then a relatively young artist from Urbino, and his studio in 1508 or 1509 to redecorate the existing interiors of the rooms entirely. It was possibly Julius' intent to outshine the apartments of his predecessor (and rival) Pope Alexander VI, as the Stanze are directly above Alexander's Borgia Apartment. They are on the third floor, overlooking the south side of the Belvedere Courtyard. these rooms were spectacular. Raphael was very young when he painted them but he was amazingly talented.) 

We continued on through the museum and finally came to the Sistine chapel. No photos, no stopping, no sitting in the chairs in the centre where there were already people sitting,  and no talking. Lots of guards and very crowded with lots of people.  The very high ceiling is lovely with vibrant colours and beautiful scenes including the famous god touching mans finger but as we could not really stop to take it in,  it was kind of disappointing maybe  a little let down. The hall of maps ceiling was just as impressive to us but maybe that was because we got a chance to really look at it.

We were then finished with the museums of the vatican and walked outside into Saint Peters Square.  Now some of my friends have been here and they have told me that Saint peters square is huge, enormous, can hold thousands of people. I thought yes it is huge , yes it is enormous and can hold thousands of people.  Oh My God  it is huge and can hold thousands of people. Then when you get out in front of Saint Peters church, it is huge too.  So impressive. How long did it take to build this structure?

We walked into the church and were awestruck.we started to take photos but it was impossible to convey the size and decor . it wold take a thousand photos. so we just walked and looked and were awed with the splendour of it all. 

Wikipedia says " The Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, or simply St. Peter's Basilica is a Italian Renaissance church in Vatican City, the papal enclave within the city of  Rome.

Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance Architecture and one of the  largest churches in the world. While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the Cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, St. Peter's is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian World " and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom".

Catholic tradition holds that the Basilica is the burial site of St Peter, one of Christ's Apostles and also the first Pope; supposedly, St. Peter's tomb is directly below the high altar of the Basilica. For this reason, many Popes have been interred at St. Peter's since the Early Christian period. There has been a church on this site since the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. Construction of the present basilica, replacing the Old St. Peter's Basilica of the 4th century AD, began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626.

St. Peter's is famous as a place of pilgrimage and for its liturgical functions. The Pope presides at a number of liturgies throughout the year, drawing audiences of 15,000 to over 80,000 people, either within the Basilica or the adjoining St Peter's Square. St. Peter's has many historical associations, with the Early Christian Church, the Papacy , the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-reformation and numerous artists, especially  Michelangelo. As a work of architecture, it is regarded as the greatest building of its age. St. Peter's is one of the four churches in the world that hold the rank of Major Basilica, all four of which are in Rome. Contrary to popular misconception, it is not a cathedral because it is not the seat of a bishop; the Cathedral of the Pope as Bishop of Rome is in the Arch-basilica of St John Lateran. 

I always thought that St Peters was the one but i guess not.  

After we wandered around the basilica we came out and crossed the square which took quite some time. It was hot out and we thought maybe we would take a carriage to the train station but they wanted 100 euros and so we took a cab for 15.

I Love Rome. all the history . you just trip over it everywhere and the people are very nice too.

The young and good looking iItalian cab driver gave us a kind of running tour of what we were seeing  on our way which it was not that far and he told us of a good restaurant for lunch before we caught the train.

the Leonnetti was excellent. It was frequented by romans and so we figured that it must be good. I had the gnocchi which was so tender and scrumptious.  the Italian's having lunch lingered but we could not as we had a train to catch and even though it was only three blocks to the train station we finished our lunch in north american time. 

The ride back was only a few euros and the ride was pleasant. pretty countryside and seacoast to Cittavechia. We then caught the bus to the pier and in no time we were back on the boat. tired and happy to have a nice dinner and a glass of wine.

We said good bye to Rome for now as at the end of our cruise we were going to be going back for a few days. we enjoyed watching the old fortress  in the harbour as we left that evening on our way to Naples.