Overview
The Vatican Museums (Italian: Musei Vaticani; Latin: Musea Vaticana) are the public art and sculpture museums in the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries including several of the most renowned Roman sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world. The museums contain roughly 70,000 works, of which 20,000 are on display, and currently employ 640 people who work in 40 different administrative, scholarly, and restoration departments.
Pope Julius II founded the museums in the early 16th century. The Sistine Chapel with its ceiling decorated by Michelangelo and the Stanze di Raffaello decorated by Raphael are on the visitor route through the Vatican Museums. In 2019, they were visited by 6,882,931 persons, which combined made them the third most visited art museum in the world.[6] They are one of the largest museums in the world.
There are 54 galleries, or sale, in total,[citation needed] with the Sistine Chapel, notably, being the very last sala within the Museum.
Details
Visit Type: Vistor Centre, but booking recommended
Co-ordinates: 41.906387, 12.454444
Web: http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html
Map
Nearby Locations
Location | Distance | Direction |
---|---|---|
St. Peter's Basilica | 0.29 miles | SSW |
Vatican Necropolis | 0.29 miles | SSW |
St Peter's Square | 0.33 miles | SSE |
Vatican Gardens | 0.36 miles | SSE |
Castel Sant'Angelo | 0.67 miles | ESE |
Ponte Sant'Angelo | 0.69 miles | ESE |
Stadium of Domitian (Piazza Navona Underground) | 1.04 miles | ESE |
Piazza Navona | 1.09 miles | ESE |
Museo Leonardo da Vinci (Piazza del Popolo) | 1.16 miles | ENE |
Piazza del Popolo | 1.16 miles | ENE |
Pantheon | 1.27 miles | ESE |
Santa Maria in Trastevere | 1.43 miles | SE |
Spanish Steps | 1.46 miles | E |
Trevi Fountain | 1.51 miles | ESE |
Vicus Caprarius (Trevi Fountain Underground) | 1.58 miles | ESE |
Victor Emmanuel II Monument (Altare della Patria) | 1.66 miles | ESE |
Capitoline Museums | 1.70 miles | ESE |
Santa Maria in Aracoeli | 1.71 miles | ESE |
Capuchin Crypt | 1.76 miles | E |
Trajan's Forum | 1.78 miles | ESE |