St. Peter's Basilica

The exit of the Vatican Museum feeds to the north side of St. Peter's, where visitors can choose to go inside the basilica or climb to the top of the dome. A few from our group elected to make the climb (which cost €7), but I chose to revisit the inside.

Walking into St. Peter's is an experience like none other. We went in around 17:30 as the sun made its way through the western sky and shone through the incredible stained glass window in the rear of the church and the windows in the dome directly above this structure:

To the immediate right of the entrance sits La Pietà, a sculpture by Michelangelo of Mary holding the body of Jesus after the crucifixion. The marble structure is now surrounded by glass, but this protection does not detract from the beauty of the piece.

La Pietà

I decided to let my mom take some pictures, and I walked around taking in every sculpture, marble tile and crevice I came across.

Since the beatification and canonization of Pope John Paul II, his tomb now lies in the alcove next to La Pietà. The ceremony recognizing his passage into heaven and sainthood took place on 1 May 2011, presided over by Pope Benedict XVI. It was incredible to see, especially since I had seen his original interment place on my first visit to the Vatican, just months after he passed in 2005.

We stood for a while near the rear of the church, where we had a spectacular view of the inside of the dome. There are images scattered throughout the alcoves, and this time I noticed something about them I hadn’t before. Most are mosaics, not paintings, as I had previously thought. Can you imagine all these beautiful designs made by hand, on such a large scale, out of tiny tiles? Incredible.

The dome in St. Peter's

Just to give you an idea of the scale: the pen in his hand is six feet long.

A mosaic under the dome in St. Peter's

On another note, Monday seemed to be 'athlete day' at the Vatican. As we left, we spotted Kerri Walsh, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in beach volleyball. She was in Rome for the Beach Volleyball World Championships (coincidentally held directly behind the pool at the Foro Italico). Definitely an exciting coincidence!

Ad for the Beach Volleyball World Championships