The Vatican: Beyond Words

This was the first time I visited the Vatican, since back in 1997 I was in Rome in February during my military service... I'm sharing the words I read in a beautiful account that I fully agreed with.

Rome, four letters that read AMOR backwards. And Rome absolutely cannot do without Vatican City, regardless of anyone's religious feelings, because the forecourt of St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums are an experience that fills you and stays with you forever. Of course, for those who are particularly religious the emotions multiply exponentially, but I assure you that the feelings when you first enter the Vatican, from Via della Conciliazione to Bernini's colonnade right into St Peter's Square in front of the Basilica...well, that alone would be enough to repay you for the journey; it would be enough to admire it from the outside and think of the history it gathers within its walls, of that window where the Good Pope or our beloved Pope Wojtyla so often appeared.

Now, if you have the luck to be able to see the Pope, that would be the closing of a perfect circle...anyway, once we arrive at the Vatican it would be a mistake to stop outside, so visiting the Basilica inside needs no introduction because it's a crescendo of emotions, one above all: Michelangelo's Pieta - but not the only one, because that would really be an understatement.

The Vatican Museums then should be visited over several occasions, because admiring the enormous number of works of superb quality all in one day is practically impossible...and here let me explain my feeling: when I set out for the visit, I already come from St Peter's Basilica, which left me open-mouthed, so I decide to savour the works at the right pace, even though, after a good while of "artistic trance", I realise I've visited only a small part of the museums, but that, after all, rushing through would be an outrage; yet rest assured that in the Vatican Museums you can't rush for one fundamental reason, namely that everything in them is Art, it stirs an emotion that's hard to reach elsewhere, and that emotion must be savoured calmly; for this there's only one solution: go back!!! But the best was still to come, because if I thought I had delighted my soul up to that point, I still h

ad to enter the Sistine Chapel, where you reach the apotheosis, a state of inner wellbeing...I assure you I'm not exaggerating; as soon as I entered the Sistine Chapel I looked around and, raising my eyes to the ceiling, I felt a sense of lightness and fullness that carried me off on an endless journey, like the time I wanted to stay and enjoy those sensations. Now, it must be said that everyone experiences art in their own way, but I, immersed in the centre of the world, felt my head spin...and I didn't want to stop, which is why I absolutely must go back, something I wish for you too!!!

The journey of elbuitre75..