Vatican City

We started our morning in Vatican City. Surrounded by the city of Rome, Vatican City is an independent state and has been surrounded by walls after one too many sacks on the city of Roman.

Above each entrance, the coat of arms of the pope of the time of the construction. The coat of arms for every pope has a crown at the top as well as a symbol for a saint. This particular coat of arms contains a symbol for St. Peter.

The dome of St. Peters Basilica

On our way to see the Sistine Chapel (no pictures allowed in there, but I bought some postcards with clear images!), we walked through the very long hallway filled with frescoes from floor to ceiling. The sides are covered with maps of different regions throughout Italy that were painted long before satellites and Google Earth and are impressively accurate in the mountain ranges and waterways. Above each map, there is a Christian story depicted from that region.

The final map was of the entire Italian peninsula

Inside St. Peters Basilica, there were several chapels and a large bronze canopy over the alter. The bronze was taken from the Pantheon and melted to make the canopy.

St. Peters Square is used by the pope to hold mass on major religious holidays.