To the greater glory of God.

That is what would be hoped was the purpose of building the grandeur that is St. Peter’s basilica. It was our first stop this morning, and I would recommend anyone visiting come in the morning as the angle of the sun streams light through the windows high above.

Though the building itself was partially funded through ill gotten means (through a practice called granting indulgences) I would hope that at least the truth shown in some of the artwork and the verses written in large script around the ceiling, might still bring glory to God.

 

 

 

 

 

While touring the floor and looking up, I noticed high above in the dome, people on a walk way. We had to go up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7€ to take the elevator and 5€ to take the stairs. We took the stairs of course and wound our way to the top. The view was awe inspiring down to the marble floors below. As an added bonus there is another stairway that keeps going up between the inner and outer walls of the dome. There is no elevator for this last section and it’s not for the faint of heart, scared of heights nor claustrophobic. As you climb the narrow steps you feel the ceiling closing in and everything tilting to the inside (due to the curvature of the dome) smaller and smaller now leaning against the inside walls, it seems like it couldn’t get much more smaller, then the passage opens up into a small room with a tiny spiral staircase with a rope in place of a guardrail which would never fit. At the top, one of the best views of Rome, 360°, well worth the climb.

 

 

 

 

 

After descending back to ground level, and a brief stop for lunch, it was back to the Vatican, the world’s smallest country. to the museum and the Sistine chapel. A word of note, around the Vatican are hundreds of people trying to sell you on a group tour around the Vatican saying you can skip the two hour line if you sign up to go with them, DON’T DO IT. One, it might be a scam, but two, we got in without standing more than 2 minutes in a line. The only slow downs we experienced were when we had to pass some of these groups slowly moving past some of the exhibits.

The Vatican museum has an interesting array of artifacts, though I did note it was curious that they had so many statues of false gods in a place that is suppose to be dedicated to the One True God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After winding through the various wings, we finally arrived at the Sistine chapel, and once again, it was a “no camera zone” Pocket camera strikes again:

After visiting a place dedicated to God filled with idols, we changed pace to go to a place once filled with idols and now used as a church.

The Pantheon:

Built in 126AD and converted to a catholic church in the 7th century, it is the best preserved Roman structure and has been in continuous use since its creation.

The dome is the most interesting part of this building with its oculus bringing in light from an open sky. This dome is still the largest concrete dome to have ever been created, and it was fascinating to stand in a structure so intact and so ancient.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Rome and to holiday in general. A half day back in London to break up the flights and then it’s back home to everyone we love and miss.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012 at 9:20 am and is filed under Italy. You can follow responses to this entry through the Comments RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.