Entrance to the Vatican Museums where the guided tour begins

The Courtyard of the Pinecone is one of the most scenic outdoor spaces of the Vatican Museums: a large terrace-courtyard, bright and quiet compared to the internal galleries, where you often stop for a moment to orient yourself and take photos.

In the Pio-Clementino Museum visitors enter the heart of the Vatican Museums’ large collection of classical sculpture: Greek and Roman statues (often Roman copies of Greek originals), busts, sarcophagi, mosaics and monumental environments designed to “stage” antiquity.

The Gallery of Candlesticks is one of the most elegant and “theatrical” passages of the Vatican Museums: a long bright corridor where the visitor walks among ancient sculptures and a very rich decoration.

The Gallery of Tapestries is one of the most surprising rooms of the Vatican Museums because here you can admire not paintings or statues, but large monumental tapestries: real “textile paintings” made with woolen threads, silk and often precious inserts, rich in detail.

The Gallery of Geographical Maps is one of the most spectacular and “wow” rooms of the Vatican Museums: a very long corridor where the visitor walks surrounded by huge painted maps and a lavishly decorated ceiling.

In the Sistine Chapel a visitor sees above all a gigantic “tale” painted on the walls and on the vault, with some of the most famous masterpieces in the history of art. Michelangelo's vault (1508–1512): a series of scenes from Genesis. The most famous are: - The Creation of Adam - The Creation of Eve - Original Sin and the expulsion from Heaven Michelangelo’s Last Judgment (1536–1541) on the wall behind the altar: Christ at the center, the saints, the angels and the great scene of the "end times", with the blessed and the damned. The frescoes of the fifteenth century on the side walls, made by great masters such as Botticelli, Perugino, Ghirlandaio, Cosimo Rosselli, Pinturicchio: Stories of the Life of Moses Stories of the Life of Christ The painted architectural decorations and portraits of the Popes (the upper band), which frame the whole and give the idea of a “painted cathedral”.

Aisle and main altars Mercy of Michelangelo Bernini's canopy and Confession area (near the tomb of St. Peter) Main monuments and works inside the Basilica (depending on the flow and accessible areas)