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Buy discounted Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel tickets on Museuly!
The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel are the must-see attractions within Vatican City in Rome. Each one holds marvelous treasures that you will fall in love with at first sight, especially those that were created by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael. The entire collection can be found within fifty-four galleries, which means that you can be busy for hours and miss incredible features if you do not prepare carefully.
Get started on your journey early in Vatican City by purchasing your discounted Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel tickets on Museuly.
The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel
There are nine different museums in all, and they contain the fifty-four galleries full of amazing artifacts and artistic exhibits. Of course, those do not include the Sistine Chapel, which is an entirely different attraction all together.
Some of the more popular galleries or museums that everyone will want to visit include Raphael’s Rooms, Room of the Immaculate Conception, the Borgia Apartment, the Gregorian Egyptian Museum, the Room of the Aldobrandini Wedding, and the Pius-Christian Museum.
The Borgia Apartment, as well as the Niccoline Chapel, were two of the first residential areas of the Popes, and they have been turned into historical attractions within the museums. Inside the Niccoline Chapel, visitors will see frescoes of the lives of St. Stephen and St. Lawrence. These were created by the artist Fra Angelico and they were recently restored to ensure that they last a few more lifetimes.
Over at the Borgia Apartment, there are beautiful frescoes amongst the rooms. Pope Alexander VI lived in these rooms at the Apostolic Palace until his death. At that time, the rooms were emptied, and they sat that way until the end of the 19th century. The rooms were finally opened to the public and today guests can see the Collection of Contemporary Art there. That collection was placed there personally by Paul VI in 1973.
Raphael’s Rooms are where Pope Julius II lived, because he didn’t want to live in the same space as the Pope that preceded him. When he chose his rooms, they had already been decorated by Pinturicchio, however, he decided that the great Raphael could redesign them any way that he wished.
The Gregorian Egyptian Museum was founded by Gregory XVI, but it did not make its way to the Vatican until 1970. Inside this museum, visitors will see sculptures and Greek original works of art that date from the 1st to 3rd century. A few of the prominent displays are not even from the Catholic religion and they include the Altar of Confucius, Beijing’s Temple of the Sky, and the Shintoist Temple of Nara.
The best statue inside the Pius-Christian Museum is the one of the Good Shepherd, but that doesn’t mean that anyone should discount the rest of the statues, archaeological findings, or inscriptions throughout the rest of the space. The oldest items within this museum are from the 6th century, and while much of it is in excellent condition, some of the items like the abovementioned statue have been restored.
Everyone wants to visit the Sistine Chapel to see the spectacular frescoes that are painted on the ceiling. Michelangelo painted the ceiling and the upper walls, beginning in 1508 and finally completed the work in October of 1512. There are nine central panels and they share the Stories of Genesis. Visitors of all religions will be able to appreciate this beautiful artwork that begins with the creation and continues with the flood, death and rebirth.
All the museums and the chapel can be found in the northern section of the city, directly to the west of the Tiber River. Visitors can take the subway, tram, or the Hop on Hop off Tour Buses to get to their destination of choice from their hotel.
The museums are open from nine in the morning until six in the evening every day with the exception of Sunday when they are closed. However, everyone must enter the museum by four in the afternoon, as that is the last allowed entry time of the day. The middle of the day is always the busiest and the most popular days are Saturdays and Mondays, as that is when the most visitors are there for long weekends.
Everyone must enter through the museums to reach the Sistine Chapel, which means every visitor will see at least a glimpse of some of the collections, even if they are not completely interested in them. It can take approximately a half hour to walk through the museums before reaching the Sistine Chapel, so everyone will want to plan accordingly.
The lines to grab tickets for the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel are very long, sometimes up to a kilometer or more in length. There are times when visitors need to stand in line for more than an hour to get their ticket and then wait a little longer before it is their turn to enter the attraction of their choice.
Visitors should avoid those long queue lines and wait times by purchasing their discounted Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel tickets on Museuly.
Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel: Last Minute Tickets is a fun acitivity in Rome. Don’t miss it and book online tickets with museuly!
