The Museo Chiaramonti, founded by Pope Pius VII in the early 19th century, is housed in a long gallery leading to the Papal palace and in the Braccio Nuovo.
The value of its contents makes the Vatican Library the richest in the world, with 7,000 incunabula (printed before 1501), 25,000 medieval hand-written books, and 80,000 manuscripts that have been collected….
The grand Piazza San Pietro in front of St. Peter’s Basilica was laid out by Bernini between 1656 and 1667 to provide a setting where the faithful from all over the world could gather.
These rooms, commissioned for the Palace of the Vatican’s papal apartments by the art-loving Pope Julius II and later by Pope Leo X, are covered with a magnificent series of frescoes by Raphael.
Built by Pope Sixtus IV in 1473-84, the Sistine Chapel is a rectangular hall, which is the Pope’s domestic chapel, also used for services and special occasions.
The centerpiece of the Vatican and one of the best places to visit, the magnificent St. Peter’s Basilica was built between the 16th and 18th centuries, replacing earlier structures that began in 326….