This was a highlight of my pilgrimage across Europe. And it is overwhelming. There is so much to experience in the Vatican museum and I only had one day there.

If you are planning to visit this musuem I recommend you schedule as a minimum, two days. It is worth it.

The Vatican Musuem is, in a way, different than all the other world class museums in the world. It is a series of museums and it dates all the way back to the 16th century. Yes! And over the past 500 years it has grown and increased. The museum has a several hundred year head start on all other museums. And it has benefited from extraordinary wealth and world wide reach in it's acquisitions over the centuries.

Although, as magnificent as the museum is, I am a little bit surprised by the humility of the main entrance. The picture here at left shows the entrance. And while it isn't as grandiose, or as big, as expected it still is special.

It was constructed in 1932 and the two figures on the top are of two of the Renaissance greats. On the left is Michelangelo, and on the right is Raphael.

Guide to various pictures:

• More Pictures
• Murals and Wall paintings inthe museum
• Religious Objects and items in the museum

Let's go Inside!

The museum complex is very large and it has over 70,000 works, across 54 museum with more than 1400 rooms.

The yellow section is the first floor. The Pink is the second floor. And the green is the basement. The Sistine Chapel is at 14.

Let's take a look at some pictures. Regrettably I have no pictures inside the Sistine Chapel. They do not allow any pictures or videos inside there. But, I do have a story to tell you about my experience inside the Chapel. After the pictures.

I have another page with Vatican Museum Pictures here

My Sistine Chapel story:

Like I said, nobody is allowed to take photographs inside the chapel. And because of the enormous number of visitors they keep things very controlled. So, they let you into the chapel in groups. Once you get in, you have a little bit of time to look at things, stare up at the wonder of the ceiling. It's crowded though. A lot of people are fit into the chapel. But that's okay. It is a very somber and reverant atmosphere in there.

Then, after a little while a priest comes out and stands on a raised stage area. (raised maybe a foot above the floor. And he talks a bit and tells us a bit. Then... he finishes off by saying he is going to take a seat and if anyone would like a blessing to please approach him.

After about a minute of quiet I decided. Hey, I am embarking on a very long and very challenging pilgrimage across Europe and then across Spain. I would love a blessing.

So I went up on the platform and asked the priest for a blessing. And he kindly obliged me! I felt really wonderful afterward. Think about it. How would it feel to get a blessing from a priest inside the actual Sistine Chapel? Yup. That will stick with me.

And, my whole pilgrimage across Europe for the next ten weeks went near perfectly. No problems, no injuries :) My thanks go to God and to all the various priests that blessed me along the way.