Vatican City

Link to the photos is HERE.

I am very late in getting these out, but so not much that the trip is not fresh in the mind.

Rome is an incredible city. We saw so much this trip I need to split this into at least four entries in the travel blog: Vatican, Pantheon, Ancient Rome, and Pompeii (not in Rome of course).

We also visited the Bourgase gallery, and the Etruscan Museum, but photographs where not allowed in the later, and I have lost my photo's from the Borghese gallery.

You can split the Vatican into three parts: St. Peter's, Vatican Museum, and the Castle of St. Angelo. The later being actually part of Rome, but with a history that ties it closely to the Vatican.

The first thing to note At St Peter's is that they are very serious about not permitting anyone to enter with bare shoulders or bare thighs---Male or Female.

Also, at the entrance are the Swiss guards, which I got a cool shot of right here.

St. Peters is by the far the most magnificent building I have every seen. It is thought that the vision of its architects, which included Michelangelo, was to "place the dome of the pantheon placed on top the Basilica of Constantine". Take note of the how the building captures the light and sends it into the cathedral in beams and giving ethereal contrasts with the cold marble. This is not a testament to my ability with photography, but to the skill of the builders and architects in making a structure the captures the light.

If the simple building where not enough to impress the inside is pact with altars, and crypts of carved marble and stone unlike anything I have seen. The selection of carvings includes the well known Pieta.

We visited the crypts beneath the Vatican that contained the remains of many Popes stretching back 1000 years. No pictures allowed there of course.

The Vatican Museum is difficult to do justice in even a single day. Though not as massive as the Louvre, at least in displays, it has many extremely important historical pieces: The Sistine chapel, the school of Athens, and my favorite, the room of Constantine. Look at this roof of the room of Constantine--my photo washes out the incredible 3d effect, but you can get the idea by keeping in mind that this is about the size of a tennis court.

I have a fascination with the history Constantinople. As such the sarcophagus of Helena and Constantina where an great surprise for me.
Fully Gallery is here.