This list of the best places to see in the Vatican Museums will help you fully enjoy one of the great tourist attractions in Rome with more than 6 million annual visitors.
Located in the small sovereign state of the Vatican, within Rome itself, this huge museum space is made up of several museums, galleries, rooms, monuments and gardens that house one of the most important art collections in the world, all owned by the church. catholic. During the visit to the Vatican Museums, which usually lasts between two and three hours, depending on your love of art, it is important, especially if you go on your own, to draw a good route that passes through all the essentials or book an interesting visit guided by an art and history expert.
Based on the times we have visited these museums, the first time on a 5-day trip to Rome and the last time we lived in the Trastevere neighborhood for almost two months, during which we wrote this series of tips for traveling to Rome, included in the Rome guide, we have made this list of what are for us, the 10 most important works in the Vatican Museums . Let’s start!
How to start the visit to the places to see in the Vatican Museums
Before starting the visit, keep in mind that long queues can form in the Vatican Museums that can easily exceed two hours if you have not purchased the ticket in advance from the official Vatican website. Another option, to learn more about the history of the museum and not miss any of the most important works in the Vatican Museums, we recommend you book this guided tour in Spanish. Another excellent option to enter the Vatican Museums and enjoy them with some peace of mind is to book these first access tickets, which allow you to enter 30 minutes before the start of the group tours, and an hour and a half before the opening to the general public.
For more information you can consult this post on how to visit the Vatican Museums.
1. The Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel, located in the Apostolic Palace (official residence of the Pope) is Michelangelo’s great masterpiece and one of the essential places to see in the Vatican Museums . Current headquarters of the conclave, the meeting in which the cardinals elect a new pope, this marvel falls in love at first sight due to the frescoes that completely cover the walls and ceiling, among which the Creation of Adam (ceiling) and that of the Last Judgment (on the main altar). It must be borne in mind that it is the only room in the Vatican Museums in which taking photos is not allowed and in which more people gather.
2. Gallery of Maps
The Gallery of Maps, located on the west side of the Belvedere courtyard, on the way to the Sistine Chapel, surprises for being covered with beautiful topographical maps of different regions of Italy painted in fresco and based on drawings by the famous mathematician, astronomer and cosmographer Ignazio Danti. In addition to going through the 120-meter gallery, looking at these maps, it is worth noting the beautiful vaulted ceiling full of frescoes.
3. Rooms of Raphael
The four Rooms of Raphael, located on the second floor of the Apostolic Palace and decorated by the Italian Renaissance painter Raphael and his disciples, between 1508 and 1524, by order of Pope Julius II, are other of the most beautiful rooms to see in the Museums Vatican. Among these rooms, which were used by Julius II as a private residence, the Seal Room stands out, which has the most famous frescoes by Raphael and the Heliodoro Room, in which he painted four biblical episodes on the walls. The rooms of the Fire of the Borgo and of Constantine were painted by his students.
4. The Bramante Staircase, one of the points to see in the Vatican Museums
One of our favorite places to see in the Vatican Museums is the Bramante Staircase, made up of a coiled double helix that produces an infinite effect. Designed by Donato Bramante in 1507 at the request of Pope Julius II, this helicoidal staircase supported by columns of the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian order, are actually two coiled staircases; one going up to access the exhibition, and another going down to leave the museum.
5. Vatican Art Gallery
Strolling through the 18 main rooms that make up the Vatican Pinacoteca, which house valuable paintings by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael or Caravaggio, is another of the best things to do in the Vatican Museums . Among the more than 400 works that make up its collection, one of the most important in the world, some stand out such as The Transfiguration by Raphael, The Deposition of Christ by Caravaggio and Saint Jerome , an unfinished painting and the only one preserved in Rome by Leonardo daVinci.
6. Pio Clementino Museum
Some of the most important works in the Vatican Museums are found in the Museo Pio Clementino, made up of 12 rooms containing incredible Greek and Roman masterpieces. Located inside the Belvedere Palace, its best-known room is the Octagon Courtyard, popularly known as the Courtyard of the Statues, which has a fountain in the middle surrounded by valuable sculptures such as the statue of Laocoonte and the Belvedere Apollo. Other rooms that you cannot miss are the Room of the Muses, whose key piece is the Belvedere Torso, and the Cabinet that houses the masterpiece of the Apoxymenos, a sculpture of a Greek athlete dating from the 1st century.
7. Tapestry Gallery
The Gallery of Tapestries and the Raphael Hall of the Pinacoteca, which concentrate some of the tapestries made by the best artisans of the moment, mainly from Flanders, are other of our favorite rooms to see in the Vatican Museums. In the Gallery of Tapestries, located between the Gallery of Candelabra and the Gallery of Maps, you’ll find the walls lined with huge 16th and 17th century tapestries depicting scenes from the Gospel such as the Adoration of the Shepherds, one of the most famous .
8. Gregorian Egyptian Museum, contains some of the most important works of the Vatican Museums
The Egyptian Gregorian Museum, another of those that make up the Vatican Museums, has a valuable collection of pieces and monuments from ancient Egypt and Roman Egypt that were transferred to Italy during the time of the Empire. During a tour of the 9 rooms dedicated to the Egyptian world, you cannot miss the works found in Hadrian’s Villa such as the statues of Osiris-Apis and Osiris-Antinous, Room IV that houses the statue of Tuya (mother of Ramses II) and the room of the sarcophagi in which the Djedmu sarcophagus and the portrait of the young Fayyum stand out.
9. Gregorian Etruscan Museum
Founded by Pope Gregory XVI, this museum brings together in its 22 rooms objects found in the sites of some of the cities of ancient Etruria, which due to their historical importance, have become some of the best works in the Vatican Museums. Among the most important pieces are the golden Pectoral from the Regolini Galassi tomb, the Acroterium with the winged horse of Cerveterio, the Funerary Monument with Adonis, a ceramic Attic Amphora and the Kilix, as well as ceramics, bronze, gold and silver objects , and a collection of Greek vases.
10. Pavilion of the Carriages
To finish this list of places to see in the Vatican Museums and the most important works in the Vatican Museums , we suggest you visit the Pavilion of the Carriages to see the different means of transport used by the Popes throughout the centuries. Among its most impressive vehicles is the beautiful Berlina de Gran Gala, a carriage used for large celebrations.
How to get to the Vatican Museums
To get to the Vatican Museums, if you are staying far away, you can take Metro line A, getting off at the Cipro-Musei Vaticani stop, or the 49 bus that leaves you in front of the entrance. You also have other bus lines such as 492, 990, 23, 81 and 982, which leave you near Plaza de San Pedro. From St. Peter’s Square it is about a 10-minute walk to the entrance of the Vatican Museums, going around the Basilica and a large part of the museums on the right. Once you get close to the entrance you will see two rows, the right for people with a reservation or guided tour, and the left, for those without a reservation. We recommend visiting them first thing in the morning, they open from Monday to Saturday from 09:00 to 18:00 (the last access is at 16:00), to later have time to visit the Basilica of San Pedro,
