Rome Trip Day 3: St. Peter’s Basilica
On Day four we metroed to the stop right outside of the Vatican City… {“This tiny independent country of little more than 100 acres, contained entirely within Rome, has its own postal system, armed guards, helipad, mini-train station and radio station. Politically powerful, the Vatican is the religious capital of about 1.1 billion Roman Catholics. The pope is both the religious and secular leader of Vatican City. The Vatican City is home to the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, the Pope’s residence and St. Peter’s Square and Basilica… just to name a few.}
We walked down a fun street full of interesting shops, great window displays and lots of cart vendors heading straight for St. Peter’s Square. We walked along the the huge columns and then got in line to tour the Basilica. 
As we stopped to take a picture of the Vatican Guards, someone else was taking a picture of us. I guess two parents taking their six children to the St. Peter’s Basilica is quite something to behold. (Later that day a Chinese lady just HAD to have her picture taken with Matthew and Luke.) Right inside the first set of doors is this amazing atrium…
{“The atrium is itself bigger than most churches. The huge white columns on the portico date from the first church… 4th century. The Historic doors (just to the right of this picture) also known as the Holy Door, won’t be opened until the next Jubilee year in 2025. From the inside it is covered in gray concrete with a gold cross. Every 25 years the Church celebrates an especially festive year derived from the Old Testament idea of the Jubilee Year which encourages new beginnings and the forgiveness of sins and debts.”}
From the very moment we entered the church we were in absolute awe. Rick Steves (travel writer extraordinaire) says, “There is no doubt: This is the richest and grandest church on earth.” It was unbelievable. I know this picture couldn’t possibly capture the size of this building but it really was remarkable. We stood at the back admiring the whole of it before turning to the right to check out the Pieta…
{“Michelangelo sculpted the Pieta when he was 24 years old. This powerfully beautiful masterpiece represents Mary with the body of Christ taken down from the cross.”} It’s gorgeous.
{“The main altar sits directly over St. Peter’s tomb and under Bernini’s seven story bronze canopy.”}
Before entering the Basilica I gave Emily and Megan a list of things to look for hoping it would capture their attention for a little while. Emily was to count the statues and Megan was to look for stained glass windows and observe if the ceiling was high or low. There was NO stained glass windows and Megan observed that the ceiling was VERRRRY high. Emily, with unwanted help from Megan, counted statues until she reached one hundred… and then she got bored.
{“The dome, Michelangelo’s last work, is the biggest anywhere and taller than a football field.”} Just amazing.
The history of Popes.
After moving through the basilica – too quickly for some (like Ryan who wanted to read Rick Steves detailed tour) – and not fast enough for others (like Megan who kept saying “Are we done yet?”) we exited and paid the Euros to take an elevator to the top of the dome. We were able to walk all the way around the intricate dome and look down into the church and 7 story canopy below. Here we got a closer look at all the detailed mosaics that filled it entirely.
323 steps later we were at the very top outside of the dome and could see for miles around. The dome on St. Peter’s Basilica is the highest thing in Rome by law. Lukey and I were buddies during the climb and he kept saying “Wow, this is so many stairs Mom”. “Mom, this is so fun.” Going down was equally entertaining.
The Pope’s residence is in one of the buildings closest to St. Peter’s Square. He gives a blessing at noon on Sunday from his apartment window.
At 3:00 we finished the dome climb and were back in St. Peter’s Square by the Obelisk as it started to rain. We got our jackets on and umbrellas out just in time for a downpour. We ran down the street and happened upon an Italian restaurant with covered outside seating with enough room for all of us. The rain poured all around us as we ordered and ate our food. Chris ordered pasta carbonara. I had buffalo cheese fresh tomato pizza. Ryan had Spaghetti with meat sauce. Katie had pasta e fagoli soup. Emily had a platter of lasagna, spaghetti and ravioli. Meg and Luke had four cheese pizza and Matthew slept in his stroller through the whole thing. Everything was excellent.
With full stomachs and drenched clothes we headed home on the Metro, took showers, got into jammies and spent the rest of the night back at the apartment playing Settlers and finishing up some online ordering of Christmas presents!