A Country Within A Country

When you go to Rome one of the most popular attractions is Vatican City.Vatican City is its own country inside of a country; it has its own laws and regulations and is one of the biggest tourist venues in the world. The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, lives within the parameters of the city making this one of the holiest places on the planet.

When we arrived at Vatican City, we were awestruck by the number of people that were congregating in the central plaza.As we were headed down the street we saw tons of people lining the street so we stopped for a second and I asked this English tourist what was going on and she said the Pope was supposed to be driving by in a few minutes, sure enough, 30 seconds later the we saw a black Mercedes cruising down the street and inside you could see Pope Benedict XVI. For me it was a humbling experience as a Catholic because I felt a connection to everyone else around me. I was sharing in a common identity that millions of other people share with me, it was a moment of total solidarity and understanding.

After we took a bunch of pictures in the central plaza we headed over to find a tour guide, we ended up getting this crazy, stereotypical Italian man who loved to tell jokes and make his group laugh. We walked all around the walls that surround the city and mark off its own national territory so Romans know where their city ends. We walked through the Musei Vaticani where we saw countless famous statues and many more paintings, frescos, tapestries, and mosaics. We saw quite a few of the Roman gods, which I thought was really interesting because I am surprised that the Vatican which denounces paganism houses these ancient statues. In addition to the Roman gods, quite a few Egyptian pieces are focal points throughout the Musei Vaticani.Our tour guide pointed out that the Vatican itself is made up of many different and distinct pieces such as the pillars from famous places in Rome and artwork that has been all over the world. I personally think the reason the Catholic Church has decided to include such pieces is because the word “Catholic” is supposed to mean universal and these pieces contribute to the idea of this worldliness.

The Sistine Chapel is one of those places that are the absolute highlights of Rome and The Vatican. It was everything I had expected and more, the frescoes were absolutely incredible and massive in a way that is hard to describe. There were strict rules about photography in the Sistine Chapel but our tour guide told us to take some pictures quickly. Some of the other members of my tour group and I whipped out our cameras and snapped a few shots of these famous scenes. Right after I took two shots, the guards rushed over and pulled the cameras out of the others hands and made them delete the pictures immediately. I saw this and quickly tossed my camera in purse so I have two “prohibited” pictures of the Sistine Chapel. Our tour guide was explaining some of the cleaning that has taken place in the Sistine Chapel; a few years ago, a Japanese cleaning company was hired to restore the color to these famous frescoes. Most of Rome and the rest of the world was appalled at this action because it is a commonly known fact that artwork can be damaged through restoration. The fact that the Vatican decided to restore these frescoes to their original glory showed that their true value was not in the physical possession of the artwork, but it lies within the happiness and inspiration that the artworks can bring to many of the patrons and tourists. The Sistine Chapel and Musei Vaticani are some of the most frequented places in the world and I now see why they are so popular. These places can mean so many different things to so many different people.