St. Peter's Basilica is, without question, the most impressive church I have ever seen. Really stunning. The architecture, paintings, sculptures, mosaics, and the sheer size is incredible.
St. Peter's from the outside:
St. Peter's Square:
Inside:
Michaelangelo's Pieta:
Altar:
Amazing ceiling:
And dome:
More impressive sculptures:
We decided to walk to the top of the dome. We decided against paying extra for the elevator, since that's crazy, and also because the elevator only takes you part of the way, and the steepest, narrowest stairs you have to climb anyway.
Halfway up, a view of the dome:
Seeing the inside of the dome is well worth the climb:
Close-up of the mosaics:
Then, there are even more crazy narrow stairs to the viewing area at the top of the dome. You can see the curvature of the dome; Caryl is trying to stand up straight:
Once you manage to push through all the tourists, the view is incredible:
We met some nice Americans on the walk down, especially a young woman who shared she was in Rome for a few months for work. There were also some guys who were discussing escape strategies in case the dome caught on fire; I suggested this may not be the best conversation to be having. We had a good laugh.
Back inside, we sought out Pope John Paul II's tomb:
And here's Caryl, taking 360 degree pictures with our tablet, something he does only when he's really impressed with a location:
Last view of St. Peter:
After seeing St. Peter's we were pretty exhausted, but we managed to see a few more things during the walk to the metro.
We saw the Spanish Steps, but of course they, too, were in scaffolds:
Interesting home improvement:
Pretty sunset:
And one more church, since we can't get enough, Santa Maria Maggiore:
St. Peter's from the outside:
St. Peter's Square:
Inside:
Michaelangelo's Pieta:
Altar:
Amazing ceiling:
And dome:
More impressive sculptures:
We decided to walk to the top of the dome. We decided against paying extra for the elevator, since that's crazy, and also because the elevator only takes you part of the way, and the steepest, narrowest stairs you have to climb anyway.
Halfway up, a view of the dome:
Seeing the inside of the dome is well worth the climb:
Close-up of the mosaics:
Then, there are even more crazy narrow stairs to the viewing area at the top of the dome. You can see the curvature of the dome; Caryl is trying to stand up straight:
Once you manage to push through all the tourists, the view is incredible:
We met some nice Americans on the walk down, especially a young woman who shared she was in Rome for a few months for work. There were also some guys who were discussing escape strategies in case the dome caught on fire; I suggested this may not be the best conversation to be having. We had a good laugh.
Back inside, we sought out Pope John Paul II's tomb:
And here's Caryl, taking 360 degree pictures with our tablet, something he does only when he's really impressed with a location:
Last view of St. Peter:
After seeing St. Peter's we were pretty exhausted, but we managed to see a few more things during the walk to the metro.
We saw the Spanish Steps, but of course they, too, were in scaffolds:
Interesting home improvement:
Pretty sunset:
And one more church, since we can't get enough, Santa Maria Maggiore:
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