A Day in Vatican City: Saint Peter's Basilica
After our previous day of a lot of walking, we had a rest day, after which it was time to go to the Vatican.
We went to the train station, but I forgot my passport and had to go back. So, whilst David and I walked back to our accommodation, my mum and brother went into Rome on an earlier train.
We met up in the city in a coffee shop. Coffee in Rome is clearly very nice! For today’s adventure we walked across the city to Vatican City, this was the 12th country we were visiting. We had learned from last time at the Colosseum and European business, so our tickets were all pre-booked allowing us to start the tour as soon as we arrived.
The tour started under Saint Peter’s Basilica, where most of the dead popes are buried. On this day it was very hot and crowded as we walked an ant-trail with hundreds of other tourists. However, when we got to the end you had to climbed up a small, cramped staircase that was so narrow only one person at a time. This ended up creating a bottleneck effect where all these hundreds of tourists have to squeeze through. Once you get out into the cathedral, the roof rises many metres above you, creating a stark contrast between the claustrophobic, tightly compact underground passage and the huge cathedral chamber. This effect was pretty cool and added to the effect this man-made building has on us.
Once we arrived in the main part of the basilica, we had more space to move around and explore which was nice. There ended up being a mass while we were walking around, so we got to see some of the cardinals in their red robes. The mass was also in German, which I didn’t know they did in the Vatican.
To add to our tour, we also had tickets to get to the top of the building where we saw the back of the 12 disciple statues and a close-up of the Basilica’s dome from the outside. We didn’t get to go see the paintings on the inside of the dome as that area was closed for an hour or two when we were up there. But we were able to climb to the top of the building which was designed by Michelangelo and completed by architects Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana after his death. I learned that they did change the designs slightly from Michelangelo’s original design. Della Porta and Fontana made the dome taller, steeper, and more pointed than Michelangelo’s original, which had been designed as a lower, more perfectly hemispherical form. The area at the top of the dome was less crowded and allowed us to see an amazing view of both the Vatican and Rome.
Something interesting that we observed while at the top of the basilica, was that the city of Rome sits quite flat compared to some other cities we have visited there were no high-rise buildings it seemed as though the Saint Peter dome was one of the tallest buildings in the city which made the view even nicer.
After hours of exploring the Vatican, we were tired and hungry. We had pasta in one of the nearby restaurants. In this restaurant we had a very hospitable waiter, and I found this to be my favourite night of our time in Italy. We finished the night with an amazing ice cream before we jumped on the train back to our accommodation which was 30 minutes away from the city in Rome’s suburbia.
Interesting facts about the Vatican City:
Vatican City is the smallest country in the world with an area of just 0.44 square km. It only has a population of 800–900 residents, making it the least populous country in the world.
It has its own ATM in Latin it also has its own Euro coins. They mint their own euros with the Pope’s face on them.
It has the world’s Shortest Border at just 3.2 km long it takes about 34–41 minutes to walk the whole length.
My over all thoughts:
I think it’s important for people of all religions and ages to visit different, significant religious sites because it teaches us to learn about how other people live and view the world. You don’t need to have the same opinion or beliefs as them, but I think it creates more understanding.
I thought the Vatican was a fascinating place with magnificent buildings, but it got me thinking. I was raised surrounded by people with a Catholic faith, I’ve seen firsthand the value it places on education and caring for those in need. With that perspective, I find myself reflecting on these historical decisions, such as the significant investment of 46.8 million ducats (estimated to be worth between $48 million and $33 billion USD today). It’s interesting to consider how choices like these sit alongside values like modesty and service to others, and how priorities can be interpreted in different ways. What would have happened if a small part of that money was used to help the poor and uneducated?
That is enough philosophy for now, in the next blog we will wrap up our time in Italy but not before doing another cooking class and traveling through two more wonderful cities. See you in the next one.
