Italia : The Holy Sea

After a visit to the Colosseum, we took the Metro Line A to Ottaviano San Pietro. The Metro Station which leads us to the Vatican City. The sky was already turning grey and rain started to pour. It was really cold and pictures looked quite dull due to lack of sunlight. So much for a dull grey Sunday.

Nevertheless, here we are at the worlds smallest state. The Holy Vatican, the world capital of Catholicism. Also a UNESCO World Heritage.

It's a city consisting of only 826 (as of July 2009) people living here.

St Peters Basillica

It also holds the largest religious building in the world, the basilica of St Peter, which is erected over the tomb of St Peter the Apostle. The Basilica was not filled with sculptures for a reason that the Christians worship idols. Blessing the house of God with your gifts was what Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Bernini and Maderna did. They were great artists, painters and sculpturers. Thus, the great artwork in the basilica.

 The ceiling of the basilica entrance

Even their basin for the Holy water is glamorous!!

Far left is the Baldacchino which stands below Michelangelo's huge dome.

It stands above St Peter's tomb.

The St Peters basillica overlooks the Piazza San Pietro, which was laid out between 1656 and 1667.

Piazza San Pietro

Due to weather and time constraint, we did'nt pay a visit to the Vatican Museum which houses the Sistine Chapel (which is used when electing a new Pope), Rapheal Rooms and not forgetting the worlds most important art collection.

The Vatican Museum is truly known also for its long ques which could extend, surrounding the city. A tip from Max, our apartment host, is to pay a visit to the museum at 2pm because that's when there would be less people lining up.