Vatican City-State

On our 2nd day in Rome, we took a tour of Vatican City through Angel Tours, the same as the one we used for the Colosseum.

The Vatican has a wide collection of statues and artifacts that have been assembled from different centuries.

Here I’m standing in front of the largest remaining statue of Augustus - Rome’s first emperor.

Fun fact - the month of August was renamed after him.

According to our tour guide, this colossal bronze statue of Hercules was struck by lightning, which is considered bad luck by the Spartans. The statue is from the late 2nd century and had remained intact because the Spartans considered it to be cursed, therefore didn’t melt it for weapons.

Part of the Vatican tour took us through the Sistine Chapel, which is adorned by Michaelangelo’s masterpiece painting on its ceiling. Oddly enough, Michaelangelo was a sculptor before being commissioned to work on this painting.

I’m wearing a scarf around my shoulders because you must have shoulders and knees covered in St. Peter’s Basilica. This also applies to the Vatican museum, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Gardens.

Even though the chapels are part of the museum tour, they are still places of religious worship and appropriate clothing is required.

The font sizes on the words near the top of the ceiling are 3 meters tall in height. This offers a monumental scale of the architecture of the basilica.

This balcony is famous for the mass that the Pope conducts on various occasions. The entrance below the balcony serves as the main entrance to St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Pontifical Swiss Guard watches over the side entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica. They are responsible for the safety of the Pope, as well as the security of The Vatican.

The Pope normally gives mass on Wednesdays and Sundays of each week when he’s available.

The chairs in the background are from the mass that was held earlier in the day before our tour of the Vatican museum.