The Museum - Vatican City

The Stairs - Vatican Museum

The queues to get into the Vatican Museum are horrendously long. Fortunately we had booked our tickets with a tour operator and were able to walk right in without having to queue up. The Museum was packed when we got in but the crowds were moving and we were able to spend a fair bit of time inside.

More images from our visit inside.

A Statue at the Museum - Vatican Museum

The origin of the Museum can be traced back to a single marble sculpture purchased over 500 years ago by Pope Julius II. The Pope placed the sculpture on display to the public and this was the start of what is now the Vatican Museum. The Museum celebrated its 500th anniversary in October 2006.

The Gardens at the Museum - Vatican City

The Sistine Chapel was the most crowded section of the Museum and people are asked to stay quiet while inside and photography is prohibited. Tour guides use images of the Chapel's ceiling, set up on a board in the garden pictured above, to point out the features of the paintings. The most annoying part of visiting the Sistine Chapel is seeing people take photographs of the ceiling despite the notices informing you that photography is prohibited. It's a massive problem in the museums in Europe as people don't seem to take any notice of the signs. I though it was bad in Sigiriya in Sri Lanka but this was a lot worse. 

A Ceiling at the Museum - Vatican City

The Interior of the Museum itself is a work of art. The details in the paintings on the ceilings and walls is exquisite. In some sections of the Museum the paintings have been created to look like sculptures and it s quite hard to identify the paintings from the sculptures. We spent hours at the museum but were able to see only a fraction of the art works that were on display at the Museum.

Another Ceiling - Vatican Museum