Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums (Italian: Musei Vaticani) are the public art and sculpture museums in the Vatican City, which display works from the extensive collection of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Julius II founded the museums in the 16th century. The Sistine Chapel and the Stanze della Segnatura decorated by Raphael are on the visitor route through the Vatican Museums. As of November 2006, it was visited by more than 4,000,000 people for the year. Learn more...

St. Peter's Basilica and Saint Peter's Square, Vatican

Coordinates: 41° 54' 8" N, 12° 27' 23" E. Find With Google Earth.

The Basilica of Saint Peter (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri), officially known in Italian as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly called Saint Peter's Basilica, is one of four major basilicas of Rome (Basilica of St. John Lateran, St. Peter's, Santa Maria Maggiore and St. Paul outside the Walls). It is the most prominent building inside the Vatican City and built on the ruins of Old Saint Peter's Basilica. Its dome is also a dominant feature of the Roman skyline. Saint Peter's is also incidentally the patriarchal basilica of Constantinople, whereas the Lateran Basilica is the patriarchal basilica of Rome. Possibly the largest church building in Christianity[1], it covers an area of 2.3 ha (5.7 acres) and has a capacity of over 60,000 people. Learn more...

Saint Peter's Square, or Saint Peter's Piazza (Italian: Piazza San Pietro), is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica. Learn more...