"mccalpin's Vatican Page 2000" a Vatican City Travel Page by mccalpin

In early 2000, my wife and I returned to Rome to visit our nephew who was studying at Notre Dame's architecture program in Rome. While there, we went to visit the excavations under the Basilica of San Pietro, in which the archeologists believe they have found (some years ago) the tomb of Saint Peter. Even for the non-religious, it's a fascinating trip down a narrow alley in a cemetery in Ancient Rome...

To help you visualize the place and where you can go, look at http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/country/vaticancity.html

On the far right where it says Piazza Pio XII is the opening in the colonnade that surrounds Piazza San Pietro. There is a white line painted on the ground in a broad arc that defines the limit between the State of Italy and Vatican City (which is a separate country). No passports controls, of course, as Italy handles that for the Vatican. Note that you can pass through the colonnade as well (it's just a bunch of columns) although they sometimes have wooden barriers up to channel traffic.

The Piazza and St. Peter's Basilica are open to the public. There may be a security inspection to enter the Basilica (as well as an appropriate clothing inspection). Once inside the Basilica, you can move around on the ground floor pretty freely. There is a Papal Treasury on the south side that is an extra fee museum. There is a grotto underneath the floor of the Basilica where a number of Popes are buried; the stairway down is near the main altar on the sides, as I recall (not the big stairway in front of the altar, which is roped off).

On the south side somewhere, there is a way to go up to the roof of the Basilica (cool), and a further stairway up through the inside of the Dome and on to the top of the Dome (very cool). If you get thirsty, there is actually a 'bar' where they sell coffee and soft drinks - I don't know about alcohol - on top of the roof of the Basilica.

These are the only public areas in this part of the City, and this part is free (except for the Treasury and I honestly don't remember about the Dome).

Look at http://www.stpetersbasilica.org/ which is a private and very helpful website on the Basilica.

As noted, when the General Audiences are out in the Piazza (much of the year, although they are eventually moved into the Audience Hall at the bottom of the map when the weather turns wintry), then much of the Piazza and all of St. Peter's Basilica is off-limits before and during the event (figure all morning, since they won't let you wander around during set-up as well as during the 1 to 1.5 hours for the audience itself, as J noted).

General Audiences are on Wednesday morning - but only when the Pope is in Rome or at Castel Gandolfo (the Papal summer palace just south of Rome). See http://www.vatican.va/various/prefettura/index_en.html where they list Papal audiences for the next month or so.

Back to the map, at the top, you will see "Entrance to Museums"; this is where you enter the Museums. They are called "Museums" because there are in fact multiple museums here, even though they are all part of one complex and are covered by one ticket. You will note that this is a surprisingly long walk (10 or more minutes - it's about a kilometer) for such a small country ;-). You enter at the top, and work you way more or less south through various buildings "Vatican Museums", "Pigna Courtyard", "Apostolic Library", "Belvedere Courtyard", and you end by entering the Sistine Chapel. Once you see the chapel, you exit into an alley next to the Basilica about where the word "Palace" is to the right of the Sistine Chapel. Now you are outside again. Note that this means that it's easy to go from the Museums' exit into the Basilica.

See for the official webpages on the Museums.

On the northwest side of the City, you see "Old Gardens". Down and to the left, you will see "Lourdes Gardens". These are the areas (I assume both, I've actually never done the garden tour) that are covered by the tour of the gardens. This area is accessible only by prereserved tour.

Info for such tours can be found at http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-Info/MV_Info_Servizi_Visite.html

On the south side of the Basilica is the Ufficio Scavi, or the entrance to the excavations under the Basilica (in fact, under the grotto). This area, rediscovered during World War II, was part of a cemetery next to the circus next to the mons Vaticanus. It is believed that St. Peter was martyred in this circus and buried in this cemetery. The excavations have uncovered a structure where archaeologists believe they have found the bones of the first Pope. If this seems incredible, note that the previous Basilica was built in the 4th Century on the spot where they believed that St. Peter was buried, and even at that time, they had evidence that this was the spot. This story actually has more provenance than many stories coming out of Ancient Rome.

You walk through the excavated area (don't worry, it's fairly tall and you won't feel claustrophobic, even knowing that you are standing under the main altar of the Basilica). You may exit through the Ufficio entrance, or into the grotto (depends on traffic and the whims of your guide).

If you have reservations to the Scavi, then you enter the City at the wooden barricades on the south side of the colonnade, where two Swiss Guards are waiting (where it says "Piazza del Sant'Uffizio"). Tell the guards, "Scavi" (assuming you don't speak any more Italian than that), and they will wave you in the direction of the entrance, which is 100-200 meters ahead, part of the side of the Basilica. As I recall, it says "Ufficio Scavi" over the door.

Note that if you speak German, all the Guards natively speak a form of Swiss-German. In some cases, the Guards themselves don't speak a lot of Italian, although the Italian-speakers are usually the ones doing gate duty both here and at the Porta Sant'Anna on the north side of the colonnade (the employee entrance).

See http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/institutions_connected/uffscavi/documents/rc_ic_uffscavi_doc_gen-information_20040112_en.html
for info on the Scavi and making reservations (which are required and quite limited).

To access the other areas of the Vatican, you must either be an employee or have a pass to conduct business there (research in the library, errands for the Church, or, in my case, a pass to the bank because I worked for a Catholic University). Look at the travelogue on my Vatican City page for some old photos taken way back then of some of the parts of the Vatican visitors don't get to see.