Vatican City holidays

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• Overview
• Country info
• Holiday ideas

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Destinations » Europe holidays » Vatican City holidays

Vatican City holiday experts at WEXAS will tailor-make all aspects of your itinerary to create a Vatican City holiday, personal to you.

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Vatican City tailor-made holiday highlights

St Peter's Basilica
The basilica of St Peter was laid out in 1656-67 by Bernini for Pope Alexander VII and added to by Maderno and Michelangelo in later years. Admire and marvel at its sheer size, ornate decoration and intrinsic mosaics. Directly to the right on entering is Michaelangelo's Pietà, a magnificent marble sculpture portraying the Virgin Mary holding Christ's dead body.

Sistine Chapel
Located in the Palace of the Vatican, it was built between 1475 -1483. It houses Michelangelo's famous and exquisite frescoes, painted between 1508-1515, mainly lying on his back. They helped to make the chapel universally famous and can still be seen today. The chapel is rectangular in shape and measures 40.93 metres by 13.41 metres, allegedly the same dimensions as the Temple of Solomon in the Old Testament. The Sistine Chapel held its first Mass in 1483. Inside, you can't help but be astounded by its beauty.

The Vatican Gardens
The gardens date back to medieval times and are now divided into two areas by the remains of the medieval walls that used to encircle the Vatican. There are 90 fountains dotted around the garden and Popes have been using the garden as a sanctuary since the ninth century. Enter into the gardens, sit down and savour the moment, enjoy the surroundings and let it soothe your soul.

The Belvedere Courtyard
Home to two world masterpieces of sculpture. The Laocoön shows a father and his two sons in a heroic battle against giant snakes. It marks the transition to the realistic style of Roman art from the idealised sculpture typical of the Greeks. Also here is the Apollo Belvedere, a Roman copy of a Greek statue dating from the 4th century bc. It is an ideal of masculine beauty, and Renaissance sculptors considered the rendering of the drapery the perfection for which they should strive.

People & place

Vatican City facts

Capital: Vatican.
Language: Latin and Italian.
People: n/a.
Religion: Roman Catholic.
Size (sq km): 0.44.
Population: 900
Population density/sq km: 2,045.5

Etiquette

Shopping

Food & drink

International Airports

Internal travel

Red tape

Visas

(UK/US) Not required, but entry is from Italy, so Italian requirements would apply beforehand.

Vaccinations

Not currently required.

Driving requirements

n/a.

Reps in UK/US

UK: Apostolic Nunciature, 54 Parkside, London SW19 5NE, tel (020) 8944 7189, fax (020) 8947 2494, email nuntius@globalnet.co.uk. US: Apostolic Nunciature, 3339 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008, tel (202) 333 7121, fax (202) 337 4036.

UK/US reps in Vatican City

UK: Via dei Condotti 91, 00187 Rome, tel (06) 6992 3561, fax (06) 6994 0684. US: Via delle Terme Deciane 26, 00153 Rome, tel (06) 4674 3428, fax (06) 575 8346.

Currency

Euro valid but issues its own Vatican lire.

Finance

Use Italian facilities.

Business hours

n/a.

Safety & life expectancy

Safety information

Life expectancy

Life expectancy:

Useful websites for travel

Local media

Tourist boards

Vatican City tailor-made holiday ideas

St Peter's Basilica
The basilica of St Peter was laid out in 1656-67 by Bernini for Pope Alexander VII and added to by Maderno and Michelangelo in later years. Admire and marvel at its sheer size, ornate decoration and intrinsic mosaics. Directly to the right on entering is Michaelangelo's Pietà, a magnificent marble sculpture portraying the Virgin Mary holding Christ's dead body.

Sistine Chapel
Located in the Palace of the Vatican, it was built between 1475 -1483. It houses Michelangelo's famous and exquisite frescoes, painted between 1508-1515, mainly lying on his back. They helped to make the chapel universally famous and can still be seen today. The chapel is rectangular in shape and measures 40.93 metres by 13.41 metres, allegedly the same dimensions as the Temple of Solomon in the Old Testament. The Sistine Chapel held its first Mass in 1483. Inside, you can't help but be astounded by its beauty.

The Vatican Gardens
The gardens date back to medieval times and are now divided into two areas by the remains of the medieval walls that used to encircle the Vatican. There are 90 fountains dotted around the garden and Popes have been using the garden as a sanctuary since the ninth century. Enter into the gardens, sit down and savour the moment, enjoy the surroundings and let it soothe your soul.

The Belvedere Courtyard
Home to two world masterpieces of sculpture. The Laocoön shows a father and his two sons in a heroic battle against giant snakes. It marks the transition to the realistic style of Roman art from the idealised sculpture typical of the Greeks. Also here is the Apollo Belvedere, a Roman copy of a Greek statue dating from the 4th century bc. It is an ideal of masculine beauty, and Renaissance sculptors considered the rendering of the drapery the perfection for which they should strive.