Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
claustrophobia or vertigo. Make it to the top, though, and you're rewarded with stunning
rooftop views from a lofty perch 120m above St Peter's Square.
Museo Storico Artistico
Accessed from halfway down the left nave, the Museo Storico Artistico (Treasury of St Peter's; adult/
reduced €6/4; 8am-7pm Apr-Sep, 8am-6.15pm Oct-Mar) sparkles with sacred relics and priceless
artefacts. Highlights include a tabernacle by Donatello; the Colonna Santa, a 4th-century
Byzantine column from the earlier church; the 6th-century Crux Vaticana (Vatican Cross),
a jewel-encrusted crucifix presented by the emperor Justinian II to the original basilica;
and the massive 15th-century bronze tomb of Sixtus IV by Pollaiuolo.
CHRISTINA, QUEEN OF SWEDEN
Famously portrayed by Greta Garbo in the 1933 film Queen Christina, the Swedish monarch is one of just three
women buried in St Peter's Basilica - the other two are Queen Charlotte of Cyprus, a minor 15th-century royal,
and Agnesina Colonna, a 16th-century Italian aristocrat. Christina earned her place by abdicating the Swedish
throne and converting to Catholicism in 1655. As Europe's most high-profile convert, she became a Vatican fa-
vourite and spent much of her later life in Rome, where she enjoyed fame as a brilliant patron of the arts. Her act-
ive private life was the subject of much salacious gossip, and rumours abounded of affairs with courtiers and ac-
quaintances of both sexes.
Free English-language tours of the basilica are run from the Centro Servizi Pellegrini e Turisti, at 9.45am
on Tuesday and Thursday and at 2.15pm every afternoon between Monday and Friday.
Tomb of St Peter
Excavations beneath the basilica have uncovered part of the original church and what ar-
chaeologists believe is the tomb of St Peter (admission €13, over 15s only; by reservation only) . In
1942, the bones of an elderly, well-built man were found in a box hidden behind a wall
covered by pilgrims' graffiti. After more than 30 years of forensic examination, in 1976,
Pope Paul VI declared the bones to be those of St Peter.
The excavations can be visited only on a 90-minute guided tour. To book a spot email
your request to the Ufficio Scavi ( scavi@fsp.va ) as far in advance as possible.
FACE IN THE BALDACHIN
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