Rome & Lazio - Italy - page 217

The 25m obelisk in the centre was brought to Rome by Caligula from Heliopolis in
Egypt and later used by Nero as a turning post for the chariot races in his circus.
The scale of the piazza is dazzling: at its largest it measures 340m by 240m. There are
284 columns and, on top of the colonnades, 140 saints. In the midst of all this the pope
seems very small as he delivers his weekly address at noon on Sunday.

Vatican Museums
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MUSEUM

(Musei Vaticani; 06 6988 4676; http://mv.vatican.va ; Viale Vaticano; adult/reduced €16/8, admission
free last Sun of month; 9am-6pm Mon-Sat, last admission 4pm, 9am-2pm last Sun of month, last admis-
sion 12.30pm; Ottaviano-San Pietro) Founded by Pope Julius II in the early 16th century and
enlarged by successive pontiffs, the Vatican Museums contain one of the world's greatest
art collections, amassed by the popes over the centuries. Exhibits range from Egyptian
mummies and Etruscan bronzes to Old Masters and modern paintings, but the main draw-
cards are the spectacular classical statuary and Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine
Chapel.
Housing the museums are the lavishly decorated halls and galleries of the Palazzo
Apostolico Vaticano. This vast 5.5-hectare complex consists of two palaces - the Vatican
palace (nearer to St Peter's) and Belvedere Palace - joined by two long galleries. On the
inside are three courtyards: the Cortile della Pigna, the Cortile della Biblioteca and, to the
south, the Cortile del Belvedere. You'll never cover it all in one day - there are about 7km
of exhibits - so it pays to be selective.
On the whole, exhibits are not well labelled, so consider hiring an audioguide (€7) or
buying the Guide to the Vatican Museums and City (€14).
The museums are well equipped for visitors with disabilities with suggested itineraries,
lifts and specially fitted toilets. Wheelchairs are available free of charge from the Special
Permits desk in the entrance hall, and can be reserved by emailing accogli-
[e-mail]. Parents with toddlers can take pushchairs (prams) into the museums.

PINACOTECA
Often overlooked by visitors, the papal picture gallery boasts Raphael's last work, La
Trasfigurazione (Transfiguration; 1517-20), and paintings by Giotto, Bellini, Caravaggio,
Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Guido Reni, Van Dyck, Pietro da Cortona and Leonardo da
Vinci, whose San Gerolamo (St Jerome; c 1480) was never finished.