Main attractions

St. Peter’s Basilica

St. Peter's Square

Vatican Museums

Sistine Chapel

Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica

Private Guided tour
Skip the line service
Half day

Take a tour of the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel, jumping the lines!

No stress to reach the area: upon arrival, your guide will lead you into the Vatican museums, through our preferred entrance. Here you’ll visit one of the most important art collections of the world. Admire the Gallery of Tapestries, and the Geographical Maps before arriving at the famous Sistine Chapel.

The beauty of the Sistine Chapel will let you astonished! Frescoes on the side of the chapel had been painted by great artists including Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Perugino and Raphael. But the focal point of the chapel is the ceiling, painted by Michelangelo Buonarroti. Ceiling frescoes represent Old Testament scenes including the famous Creation of Adam.

After the Sistine Chapel you will be taken, through an exclusive access to St. Peter’s Basilica, skipping long lines. St Peter’s Basilica is a catholic shrine, built upon the tomb of St Peter. Admire this wonderful Basilica and enjoy the holiness of this place.

Category
Art and Culture, Shore Excursion in Italy
Location
Port of Civitavecchia, Rome
Days
1
Staff
Licensed Guide
Tour Type
Private
Duration
Half Day
Highlights
Vatican Museums
Highlights
Sistine Chapel
Highlights
St. Peter's Basilica

Included

Licensed Local Guide

Not Included

Admission fees
Beverages and meals
Gratuities and tips

Full Name*

Email*

Phone*

Date you are interested for this tour

From where you want to start this Tour?

Number of People

Tell us more about your request

St. Peter’s Basilica

St. Peter’s Basilica is built upon the tomb of St Peter and situated in the Vatican City in St. Peter’s Square. This Basilica is one of the largest churches in the world and the imposing Dome designed by Michelangelo dominates the skyline of Rome. The new basilica took 120 years to complete starting from 1506 and many great architects were part of its design: Bramante, Raphael and Michelangelo are the most renowned. Once inside the nave the enormous size of the church becomes apparent. It is decorated with large monuments, many of which were created by the great artist Bernini. Among these the enormous bronze baldachin over the papal altar. But the most famous monument in the St. Peter's Basilica is the Pietà by Michelangelo, a marble sculpture of a young looking Mary holding the dead body of her son.

St. Peter's Square

St. Peter's Square (or Piazza San Pietro) was created in the seventeenth century by Bernini in Vatican City in the open space which lies before the homonymous St. Peter's Basilica. St. Peter's Square is bordered on two sides by semi-circular colonnades that consist of four rows of Doric columns. On top of these colonnades Bernini and his students placed 140 statues representing popes, martyrs, evangelists and other religious figures. In the center of the square stands an Egyptian obelisk, originally located in an other area of the Vatican City and then moved to its present location. St. Peter's Square creates a magnificent entry point to the St. Peter's Basilica, that borders the square to the west.

Vatican Museums

Vatican Museums are one of the most important art collections of the world. This vast collection of art, that spans more than two millennia, includes statues from Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, as well as Renaissance masterpieces by artists such as Raphael and Michelangelo. Do not lost the following art works! Laocoön sculpture, that depicts the Trojan priest Laocoön and his two sons being strangled by serpents. The four Raphael Rooms with amazing frescoes. Vatican Pinacoteca (Art Gallery) with masterpieces of Giotto, Raphael, Leonardo, Tiziano, Caravaggio and many others painters. The Gallery of Tapestries and the Geographical Maps. And above all the Sistine Chapel with a wonderful, completely frescoed ceiling that is beautifully crafted. Michelangelo’s incredible depiction of the nine central stories from the book of Genesis is surely one of humanity’s finest artistic achievements.

Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel is the main attraction of the Vatican Museums. Although the walls of the Chapel are decorated with amazing frescoes by Botticelli, Perugino, Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Rosselli, including the Stories of Moses and the Stories of Jesus, you will be astonished by the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Ceiling frescoes by Michelangelo include intricate depictions of Biblical scenes starting with the Creation of Light and ending with the Drunkenness of Noah at the altar. Michelangelo divided the ceiling into nine central sections painting classical architectural elements such as statues and pilasters. Around the biblical scenes he painted prophets and Sibyls, prophetesses from the antiquity. The lunettes show portraits of Jesus's ancestors and the four triangular pendentives in the corners show scenes from the Old Testament. The most renowned works of the Chapel are The Creation of Adam on the ceiling and The Last Judgement on the altar wall, both painted by Michelangelo.