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Vatican Museums (Rome)

The Vatican Museums contain an astonishing collection of art and treasures col lected by the popes, and you'll need several hours to see the most important areas. Make sure you pick up a floor plan leaflet.

There are four very helpful 'oneway' itineraries, lasting from 1,5 to five hours, mapped out with the aim 9f simplifying visits and containing the huge number of visitors. The Sistine Chapel comes towards the very end of a full visit; otherwise, you can walk straight there, but if you'd like to visit the Stanze di Raffaello, do so first as you can't backtrack once in the chapel.

The Museo Pio-Clementino, containing Greek and Roman antiquities, is on the ground floor near the entrance. Through the superb Galleria delle Carte Geografiche (Map Gallery) and the Galleria degli Arazzi (Tapestry Gallery) are the magnificent Stanze di Rafaello, once the private apartments of Pope Julius II, decorated with frescoes by Raphael. Of particular interest is the mag~ nificent Stanza delia Segnatura, which features Raphael's masterpieces The School of Athens and Disputation on the Sacrament.

From Raphael's rooms, go down the stairs to the sumptuous Appartamento Borgia, decorated with frescoes by Pinturicchio, and then down another flight of stairs to the Sistine Chapel, the private papal chapel built in 1473 for Pope Sixtus IV. Michelangelo's wonderful frescoes, Creation and Last Judgment, have been superbly restored to their original brilliance. It took Michelangelo four years, at the height of the Renaissance, to paint the Creation; 24 years later he painted the extraordinary Last Judgment. The other walls of the chapel were painted by artists including Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Pinturicchio and Signorelli.

Pantheon

The Pantheon is the best preserved building of ancient Rome. The original temple was built in 27 BC by Marcus Agrippa, son in-Iaw of Emperor Augustus, and dedicated to the planetary gods. Agrippa's name remains inscribed over the entrance.

Over the centuries the temple was con~ sistently plundered and damaged. The gilded bronze roof tiles were removed by an emperor of the eastern empire, and Pope Urban VIII had the bronze ceiling of the portico melted down to make the canopy over the main altar of St Peter's and 80 cannons for Castel Sant' Angelo. The Pan¬theon's extraordinary dome is considered the most important achievement of ancient Roman architecture. The Italian kings Vit¬torio Emanuele 11 and Umberto I, and the painter Raphael, are buried here.

Piazza Navona

A few blocks west of the Pantheon, this vast and beautiful square , lined with baroque palaces, was laid out on the ruins of Domitian's stadium and features three fountains. In its centre is Bernini's master piece, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi . Visit at different times of the day, and be sure to grab a gelato, relax on one of the stone benches in the sun, or enjoy a cappuccino at one of the many cafes - the expense is worth it to watch the various artists mingling in the piazza and to absorb the ever vibrant hum.

Vatican Museumns, known as the Palazzo Apostolico Vaticano admission €12

Museums in Rome

• Museo Nazionale Romano (Rome)
• Capitoline Museums (Rome)
• Museo e Galleria Borghese (Rome)
• Museo Nazionale Romano (Rome)
• Vatican Museums (Rome)