Taking a Stroller Through the Vatican Museums: What Actually Works
Where strollers work in the Vatican Museums, where the stairs stop them, and what parents do at the Sistine Chapel bottleneck. Plan your visit and book tickets.
Where to Store a Suitcase Before a Vatican Museums Visit
The Vatican Museums cloakroom won’t take a large suitcase. Here’s where to actually store luggage nearby before your visit, hotel to station to lockers.
What Actually Fails the Bag Check at the Vatican Museums Security Line
The Vatican Museums never publish a bag-size limit. Here is what staff actually turn away at the X-ray checkpoint, and how to book skip-the-line tickets.
The Order Michelangelo Painted the Sistine Ceiling, and Why It Shows
Michelangelo painted the Sistine ceiling backwards, from Noah to the Creation. Here is the true panel order and what to compare overhead on your Vatican visit.
The Sistine Chapel Restoration Controversy, Thirty Years Later
Was the 1980-1994 Sistine Chapel cleaning a scandal or a revelation? What conservators removed, who objected, and how to judge the colours yourself today.
Why Michelangelo’s Nudes in the Last Judgment Wear Painted Drapery
Why some figures in Michelangelo’s Last Judgment wear painted cloth: the Council of Trent’s 1564 order, Daniele da Volterra, and what 1990s restorers kept.
Dalí, Chagall, and Bacon: The Vatican’s Modern Religious Art Collection
Inside the Vatican Museums’ 1973 Collection of Modern Religious Art: Dalí, Chagall and Bacon in the Borgia Apartments. Plan your visit with our Vatican tours.
Is the Vatican Carriage Pavilion Worth the Extra Walk?
Popes’ carriages, a Ferrari steering wheel, and the Fiat linked to the 1981 shooting: is the Vatican Carriage Pavilion worth the extra walk? Here’s the verdict.
Inside the Octagonal Court: Why the Vatican’s Greatest Statues Cluster Here
Why Julius II grouped the Laocoön and Apollo Belvedere in one Vatican courtyard, and how to see them before the crowds build. Book a guided tour.
The Chiaramonti Museum’s Corridor of a Thousand Busts: Worth More Than a Walk-Through
The Chiaramonti corridor isn’t a hallway to rush through. See how Canova arranged its nearly a thousand sculptures, and what to look for as you pass through it.