We met up with our group and went in. Our guide found a nice quiet spot in one of the gardens where we had a great introductory talk about the museums, the Sistene chapel and some of the history. She warned us about the crowds and once inside we could appreciate how difficult it would have been to stop and talk to the group – you just get carried along with the crowd!
These are just a few pics – its almost overwhelming to be inside as the ceilings, the walls, the floors – are all decorated with the most amazing paintings. Rooms and rooms of them. And you can’t just stop and look as the crowd moves along and you are simply a part of it- stopping is difficult!
Beautiful ceilings…
Wonderful floors- I snapped many photos of floors & this is the one with the least amount of peoples feet in it.
There was a long hallway with floor to ceiling tapestries
Another ceiling…. just stunning… and this is only a small part of it.
Doorways & windowsills as well…
Inside St Peters …. it just takes your breath away.
After some time looking around we went up into the inside of the dome…
Then we went right up to the top of the dome on the outside. We walked up these tiny stairs that twist tightly around a central pole – it felt like they went on forever – I found it quite claustrophobic and as you walk higher the sides of the dome are curved against your shoulder, not good if you don’t like small spaces.
Then, feeling a bit dizzy from going round and round you walk out to see this view…
We went back down and looked around the courtyard and then found a place for lunch – pizza & coffee on the footpath – great coffee!
Then it was time to meet up with our group again and we went to see St Paul outside the walls. The building started by Constantine in the 4th Century thought to be over the burial place of St Paul. It had ongoing renovations and additions up till the 18th century.
After the crowds at St Peter’s, it was really nice to be here with just a few other people. It’s less ornate than some of the other churches but really beautiful and the atmosphere is very peaceful.
Then it was back on the bus and off to see St John Lateran & the Holy Steps.
St John Lateran is the oldest and most important of the four basilicas, outranking all other churches, including St Peters. It is the ‘mother church’ of Catholics and all popes ruled from here from 313AD until the move to Avignon. There are six popes tombs remaining inside the church, 12 more popes tombs were damaged by fires.
It’s just stunning inside..
After this, we visited the ‘Holy Steps’, supposedly the steps that Jesus walked on when before Pontious Pilate – official ‘relics’ of the Church which some claim even has drops of Jesus blood on the steps.
There were quite a few people here and we lined up to go in. Like most places, there were armed police there patrolling. The police pulled a young woman out of the lineup and started asking her questions. Her boyfriend tried to talk to them and showed his papers but they just brushed him away and kept harassing this young woman. It was just awful to watch – she had a headscarf on and out of everyone there they pulled her out – it was pretty clear they targeted her for her assuming she was a Muslim. She looked like any young woman on holiday to me, could not believe they way they behaved towards her.
We went inside and it was pretty awful really. People wailing, praying prostrating themselves and going up the stairs on their knees praying out loud. It reminded me of The Canterbury Tales & the fake relics used to con people out of their money. We left, didn’t take any photos, didn’t like it and wouldn’t recommend it.
Next up was St. Mary Major, just a few blocks from our hotel. A huge, impressive church.
We arrived to find that people were starting to fill the pews for a church service and our guide found a spot at the back of the church to quietly give us talk about ts history. Well, next thing we get told to leave. Our guide told us to stay exactly where we were and then had an ‘assertive’ conversation in Italian with the guy. She insisted we stay as we had time for our talk before the service, he kept insisting we leave and it was getting quite animated! We just all stayed there and eventually, he left – Italian women are just wonderful at speaking up for themselves.
Not long after a huge procession of priests followed by five cardinals came in so we watched a few minutes of the start of the service and then left to walk back to the hotel.
It was just a wonderful day. I would absolutely recommend the tour we did – our guides were historians and their knowledge of the history of the churches and the architecture was fantastic. A really enjoyable tour.