7 Places To Visit In Vatican City, Italy

Are you looking for the best places to visit in Vatican City? Here is your answer. Vatican City, where the Roman Catholic Church’s headquarters are located, is a city-state bordered by Rome, Italy. The Pope lives there, as well as a wealth of famous art and architecture.  Get our free Travel Checklist

Not only the locals but also the rest of the globe are captivated by this metropolis, which is famed for its gorgeous qualities. Missionary objects, papal carriages, vintage autos, and a collection of over 800 works of modern religious art by Matisse, Dali, Munch, Rouault, and others are on the exhibits.

With this list of the top-rated places in the Vatican, you will be able to find the best things to do and see in the city.

Visit Sistine Chapel, the Pope’s domestic chapel

The Pope’s domestic chapel, the Sistine Chapel, is a rectangular space that is also used for worship and special occasions. The conclave to pick a Pope’s successor is convened here when the current one dies.

Large murals of Biblical events against a backdrop of Umbrian and Tuscan scenery, painted for Sixtus IV by the most famous artists of the day – Perugino, Botticelli, Rosselli, Pinturicchio, Signorelli, and Ghirlandaio. There is simply a lot of embellishments on the sidewalls of the palace.

Humanism is already present in these late-twentieth-century paintings, which see humans as individuals and vital participants in history.

Piazza San Pietro designed by Bernini

Between 1656 and 1667, Bernini designed the great Piazza San Pietro in front of the St. Peter’s Basilica to serve as a gathering place for the faithful from all over the world. It still fulfills that role wonderfully, and it is always full on Easter Sunday and other major festive days.

The façade of the basilica, on the other hand, is the focal point, since the Pope dispenses his blessings and announces canonizations and beatifications from its central balcony. The name of a new Pope elected by the conclave is also announced here by the senior member of the College of Cardinals.

Visit Museo Pio Celementino, created by Popes Clement XIV and Pius VI

The Vatican Museums house the world’s biggest collection of ancient sculpture, mostly from Rome and its environs, most of which is presented in a systematic arrangement created by Popes Clement XIV and Pius VI between 1769 and 1799.

Even a list of the highlights is a long one because these galleries are so full of wonderful and noteworthy artifacts.

Tour the Vatican Gardens

In the 13th century, Pope Nicholas II commissioned the construction of the first elements of the Vatican Gardens, which were intended to be a place of quiet contemplation.

The small city-groomed state’s gardens, grassy areas, and orchards have expanded to cover about half of the territory and rival the most exquisite gardens in Italy over the years.

Visit the mid-19th century Etruscan Museum

It was founded in the mid-19th century by Pope Gregory XVI and contains 18 rooms of antiquities that give new information on the Etruscans’ way of life and belief in the afterlife.

Not just burial goods, but also artifacts and things from the ordinary lives of these fascinating people, have been discovered in Etruscan graves all around Tuscany.

The grave goods found in Cerveteri’s Regolini-Galassi tomb, including the Mars of Todi, ahead of Athena, and several fine Etruscan vases, stand out.

Tour the 70-meter-long hall of the Vatican Library

Beautiful hand-illuminated Gospels, Biblical codices, early printed books, parchment manuscripts, and antique scrolls and papyri can be seen in the 70-meter-long hall, which was created by Domenico Fontana.

The collection of pontifical coins and medals, which was recently expanded, is also available in the library.

With 7,000 incunabula (printed before 1501), 25,000 medieval hand-written books, and 80,000 manuscripts amassed since the library’s foundation in 1450, the Vatican Library is the world’s most valuable library.

That’s just the ancient books; it doesn’t include all of the books that have been published since the end of the 15th century, as well.

Enjoy your visit to St. Peter’s Basilica

The majestic St. Peter’s Basilica was built between the 16th and 18th centuries, replacing earlier structures that began in 326 on what is supposed to be where St. Peter was buried and is one of the top destinations to see in the Vatican.

In the 16th century, it was the sale of indulgences to pay for this structure that sparked Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation.

Before you enter the church, you’ll notice Bernini’s equestrian statue of Constantine in the portico and Giotto’s mosaic pieces above the main doorway, as well as Bernini’s equestrian statue of Constantine in the portico. The double bronze doors are also from the ancient church.

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