The travels of Tim and Megan: Vatican City

Friday

We got going very early on Friday, as we knew we had to get to the Vatican City early to beat the crowds. It was a short metro ride from our hotel to the Vatican and we arrived just after 8.30am. The early start was well worth it, as there were no queues; in fact, there was hardly anyone there at all.

Probably the largest church in Christianity, St Peter's Basilica covers an area of 2.3 hectares and has a capacity of over 60,000 people. It is regarded as one of the holiest Christian sites in the world. In Catholic tradition, it is the burial site of its namesake Saint Peter, who was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus and, according to tradition, the first Bishop of Rome and therefore first in the line of the papal succession. Tradition holds that St Peter's tomb is below the 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 4th century. Construction of the present basilica, over the old Constantinian basilica, began in April, 1506 and was completed in November, 1626.

We were blown away by the massive size of St Peter's Basilica. For those of you have visited Westminster Abbey in London, St Peter's is similar (although larger and even more impressive) in that it just oozes history and has so many remarkable statues and sculptures. We just about had the basilica to ourselves for the first half hour, which gave us a great opportunity to see some of the amazing treasures of St Peter's, including Michelangelo's 'La Pieta' sculpture and the bronze statue of St Peter. After an initial wander through the empty basilica, we got ourselves audio guides, which were brilliant, and took a proper tour through, learning plenty as we went.

La Pieta (1499) is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture by Michelangelo. The statue was commissioned for the French cardinal Jean de Billheres, as his funeral monument, but it was moved to the first chapel on the right of St Peter's in the 18th century. The famous work of art depicts the body of Jesus in the lap of his mother Mary after the crucifixion. It is generally regarded as one of the most highly finished works by Michelangelo. Set against the north east pier of the dome is a bronze statue of St Peter Enthroned, sometimes attributed to late 13th century sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio, although some scholars date it to the 5th century. One foot of the statue is largely worn away due to centuries of pilgrims kissing and touching it.

The majestic centrepiece of St Peter's is the Papal Alter covered by the baldachin. The baldachin is a large sculpted bronze canopy designed by Bernini and located over the high altar and beneath the dome of the basilica. The baldachin was intended to mark in a monumental way the place of St Peter's tomb. It was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII and was constructed between 1623 and 1633. After completing the baldachin, Bernini turned his attention to the 'Cathedra Petri' or 'throne of St Peter', a chair which was often claimed to have been used by the apostle, but appears to date from the 12th century. As the chair itself was fast deteriorating and was no longer serviceable, Pope Alexander VII determined to enshrine it in suitable splendour as the object upon which the line of successors to Peter was based. Bernini created a large bronze throne in which it was housed, raised high on four looping supports held up by massive bronze statues of four saints. Behind and above the Cathedra, a blaze of light comes in through a window of yellow alabaster, illuminating, at its centre, the Dove of the Holy Spirit.

Following our tour of the basilica, we checked out the Vatican grotto, or crypt, beneath St Peter's. There are over 100 tombs within St Peter's, mainly located in the crypt. These include 91 popes, St Ignatius of Antioch and Holy Roman Emperor Otto II. Also buried here are Queen Christina of Sweden, who abdicated her throne in order to convert to Catholicism, and Countess Maltilda of Tuscany, supporter of the Papacy during the Investiture Controversy. The most recent interment was Pope John Paul II, on 8 April, 2005.

In front of the basilica is the Piazza di San Pietro or St Peter's Square. The present arrangement, constructed between 1656 and 1667, is the Baroque inspiration of Bernini who inherited a location already occupied by an Egyptian obelisk of the 13th century BC. The obelisk, known as "The Witness", at 25.5 metres and a total height, including base and the cross on top, of 40 metres, is the second largest standing obelisk, and the only one to remain standing since its removal from Egypt and re-erection at the Circus of Nero in 37 AD, where it is thought to have stood witness to the crucifixion of St Peter. Bernini created the piazza in two sections. The part which is nearest the basilica is trapezoid, but rather than fanning out from the facade, it narrows. The second section of the piazza is a huge elliptical circus which gently slopes downwards to the obelisk at its centre and has two fountains, one either side of the obelisk.

It was scorching hot outside, so we found some shade in front of St Peters for a short rest and then wandered through St Peter's Square, snapping some photos and feeling pretty chuffed with ourselves for getting there early to avoid the queues which, by late morning, were absolutely massive. We found a nice pizzeria not far from St Peter's Square, where we had some really good pizza and gelato for lunch. We also checked out the souvenir shops, where we picked up the obligatory fridge magnet for our latest country visited, the Vatican City. Then it was time to head to the Vatican Museums.

Once again we had booked tickets to the Vatican Museums in advance, although as it turned out, there was not much of a queue anyway. The undoubted highlight of the Vatican Museums is Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, however there is plenty more to look at along the way. The Vatican Museums are among the greatest museums in the world, displaying works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries. Pope Julius II founded the museums in 1506. The collections have grown steadily ever since. More than 4.3 million people visit the Vatican Museums every year.

The huge Vatican Museums include an Egyptian museum, an Etruscan museum, a section of Greek and Roman Antiquities, a tapestries section, a ceramics section and an area dedicated to modern religious art, as well as the far more famous Sistine Chapel, Raphael Rooms and Pinacoteca art gallery.

The four 'Stanze di Raffaello' or Raphael Rooms form a suite of reception rooms, the public part of the papal apartments. They are famous for their frescoes, painted by Raphael and his workshop. They were originally intended as a suite of apartments for Pope Julius II. He commissioned Raphael, at the time a relatively young artist from Urbino, and his studio in 1508 or 1509 to redecorate the existing interiors of the rooms entirely. After the death of Julius in 1513, with two rooms frescoed, Pope Leo X continued the programme. Following Raphael's death in 1520, his assistants finished the project.

The Sistine Chapel is surely one of the most famous and brilliant pieces of art in the world. Its fame rests on its decoration, which has been frescoed throughout by the greatest Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini and Botticelli. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted 12,000 square feet of the chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. He resented the commission, and believed his work only served the Pope's need for grandeur. However, today the ceiling, and especially The Last Judgement scene on one of the end walls of the chapel, are widely believed to be Michelangelo's crowning achievements in painting.

The Sistine Chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who restored the old Cappella Magna between 1477 and 1480. During this period a team of painters created a series of frescoed panels depicting the life of Moses and the life of Christ. Since the time of Sixtus IV, the chapel has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. Today it is the site of the Papal conclave, where the cardinals meet to select a new Pope.

The Sistine Chapel was our personal highlight of the Vatican Museums. Much like Michelangelo's David and St Peter's Basilica, it is one of those sights that is hard to explain - just awesome. After a solid 20-30 minutes staring upwards, we made our way out of the Sistine Chapel, with sore necks, and continued through the Museums. The Pinacoteca art gallery includes magnificent works by all the usual suspects - Leonardo, Raphael etc and so on - that are well worth a look. We also really enjoyed the section on modern religious art, which included some interesting paintings and sculptures.

Aside from one of the finest museums in the world and surely the most impressive church in the world, visiting the Vatican City also clocked up another country on our growing list. The Vatican City is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome. At approximately 44 hectares or 0.44 sq km, and with a population of around 900, it is the smallest country in the world by both area and population. Visiting the world's smallest country took Megan to 31 countries and Tim to 29.

The Vatican City came into existence in 1929 (through the Lateran Treaty) and is thus distinct from the central authority of the Roman Catholic Church, known as the Holy See, which existed long before 1929. The Pope is the head of state and head of government of the Vatican City.

It is a fascinating little place with the beautiful Vatican Gardens behind St Peter's Basilica as well as a small railway line and station, which is used for transporting supplies into the state, a radio broadcasting tower, where Vatican Radio broadcasts from, and a helipad for the papal helicopter! There are also around 100 Swiss Guards (dressed a little like court jesters) resident in the Vatican City, acting as the Pope's personal bodyguards and general security of the state.