Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel: Tickets

Vatican Tickets and Information

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• Vatican Museums Address: Vatican City, 00120
• Opening Hours: 08:00 - 19:00

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Vatican Museums Ticket Availability

• If you plan to visit the Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel we strongly suggest you book your tickets online and in advance. The Vatican limits ticket numbers and they are only available online and regularly sell out, sometimes weeks and months in advance. If you know when you are visiting book tickets as early as possible.

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Are the Vatican Museums Worth Visiting

• If you are an art lover, absolutely.
• If you are religious, absolutely.
• If you enjoy visiting historical buildings steeped in history, absolutely.
• If you are neither of the above, its still a great place to visit, so you can say you've visited the smallest country in the world!

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What Visitors See at Vatican Museums

• Art
• Sculptures
• Religious artefacts
• Architecture
• Religious buildings

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About The Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel

The Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, the smallest country in the world! The Iconic landmarks which are recognisable across the world are some of Rome’s most popular tourist attractions, offering a glimpse into centuries of human creativity through their vast and incredibly varied art and antiques collection.

The Vatican Museums were started by a series of visionary pontiffs who recognized the importance of preserving and showcasing the historical treasures that were housed in Vatican City. Notably, it was Pope Julius II who played a pivotal role in their creation as in the early 16th century, he acquired the famed ‘Laocoön’ and ‘Apollo Belvedere’ sculptures, which laid the foundation for what would become the Vatican Museums.

Over the centuries, subsequent popes continued to expand the collection with further acquisitions and then, in the 18th century, Pope Clement XIV established the ‘Pio-Clementino Museum,’ which then gave the Vatican Museums a more formalised structure.

The collection eventually outgrew its original space, which prompted the construction of additional wings and galleries, leading to what we see today and know as the Vatican Museums.

The Vatican Museums now comprises of a vast network of museums, galleries, and courtyards that collectively display a huge range of art and historical artefacts. A treasure trove which naturally attracts art enthusiasts, historians, and curious visitors from all over the world to the point where now, especially during the peak summer months, you often have to book tickets weeks and sometimes months in advance or they sell out!

Popular Galleries at The Vatican Include:

• The ‘Pio-Clementino Museum,’
• The ‘Gallery of Maps,’
• The ‘Gregorian Egyptian Museum,’
• The ‘Raphael Rooms,’

The museums house masterpieces such as:

• Raphael's 'Transfiguration', 'The School of Athens' & 'The Annunciation'
• Caravaggio's 'The Entombment of Christ'
• Johann Wenzel Peter's 'Adam and Eve In The Garden of Eden'
• Leonardo Da Vinci's 'St. Jerome'
• As well as works by Van Gogh, Rodin, Bernini and many others.

The Sistine Chapel

A visit to the Vatican Museums isn't complete unless you see the Sistine Chapel, arguably the most famous part of the museums. Consecrated in 1483, the Sistine Chapel is arguably famous largely due to Michelangelo's art.

The ceiling frescoes which depict scenes from the Book of Genesis, and are amongst the most renowned artworks in the world. Michelangelo’s iconic fresco the "Creation of Adam," with the outstretched hands of God and Adam, being one of the biggest and most famous of all. The entire ceiling is a visual feast, with intricate details and masterful use of perspective creating a sense of depth and grandeur.

Michelangelo returned to the Sistine Chapel decades later to paint "The Last Judgement" on the altar wall. He completed it in 1541 and this monumental fresco depicts the second coming of Christ and the final judgement of souls.

While Michelangelo's frescoes may be the centrepiece, the Sistine Chapel is also home to other significant artworks. The chapel's walls are covered with works by Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, and Perugino, amongst others. Additionally, the Papal Throne adds to the chapel’s historic and cultural significance.

Pio-Clementino Museum

The Pio-Clementino Museum was starting point to the Vatican Museums, inaugurated by Pope Clement XIV in the 18th century and offers classical antiquity. Its halls are filled with sculptures that show the grandeur of ancient Greece and Rome. The collection still includes the original founding pieces being the ‘Belvedere Torso,’ the ‘Apollo Belvedere,’ and the ‘Laocoön Group,’.

The Pinacoteca

The Pinacoteca is home to a collection of around 460 paintings including masterpieces by some of the greatest artists in Italian history, including Crespi, Caravaggio, Raphael, Melozzo da Forli, Perugino, Leonardo da Vinci, Tiziano, and Veronese, amongst others. Architect Luca Beltrami was commissioned by Pius XI to create a building with optimal lighting conditions and location to ensure the preservation and display of the art. The gallery was inaugurated in October 1932.

The Gallery of Maps (La Galleria delle Carte Geografiche)

The Gallery of Maps is a must-see during your visit, in our opinion. It offers a fascinating journey through the evolution of mapmaking. Those with an interest in geography and cartography will very much enjoy the space.

Pope Gregory XIII commissioned this area in the late 16th century and the gallery has a series of topographical maps which depict Italy's regions at the time. The maps, which are all done by hand, are a testament to the skill of the Renaissance cartographers. Even though the maps were created to serve practical purposes and did represent the areas, they are also works of art in their own right. They all tell stories, not only of the landscapes but also of the political and cultural dynamics of Renaissance Italy. If you look carefully, you may even notice details such as sea monsters and other mythological figures! You don't find that on most maps of today!

Raphael Rooms

Named after the famous Renaissance artist Raphael, the 'Raphael Rooms', or the ‘Stanze di Raffaello,’ are a collection of four interconnected rooms that are filled with frescoes showing the pinnacle of Renaissance art. Raphael, along with his workshop, created the masterpieces between 1508 and 1524.

One of the most significant pieces in the Raphael Rooms is “The School of Athens” which is in the 'Room of the Segnatura'. The piece portrays the intellectual spirit of the Renaissance period featuring a group of intellectuals including philosophers, scientists, and scholars from different historical periods. The central figures are Plato and Aristotle, who appear to be in deep contemplation and they are surrounded by other luminaries such as Socrates, Euclid, and Ptolemy. It would have been very interesting to have been there for that conversation! If you view the works in the rooms in chronological order you can actually see how Raphael's style changed over time.

The Vatican Museums consist of:

• Gregorian Egyptian Museum
• Pio Clementino Museum
• Pius-Christian Museum
• Lapidario Profano ex Lateranense
• Christian Lapidarium
• Carriage Pavilion
• Porfane Museum
• Chapel of St. Peter Martyr
• Ethnological Museum
• Niccoline Chapel
• Room of the Immaculate Conception
• Gregorian Etruscan Museum
• Chapel of Urban VIII
• Room of the Chiaroscuri
• Borgia Apartment
• Lapidary Gallery
• Gregoriano Profano Museum
• Pinacoteca
• Sistine Chapel
• Raphael's Rooms
• Chiaramonti Museum
• New Wing
• Room of the Aldobrandini Wedding
• Christian Museum
• Jewish Lapidarium
• Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art