Essential Vatican Tour (with Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s): what you should see, understand and absorb

History does not warn when it changes course. Discover in our tour of the Vatican the figures painted on the vault of the Sistine Chapel and deal with our guide about why they are the climax of Renaissance culture. Delve into the dramatic stories of the frescoes of the Last Judgement, painted by Michelangelo 20 years later: Michelangelo’s anguish is evident. With Vatican palaces looted by enemy troops and the Inquisition around the corner, the Renaissance is at an end.

Visit the Raphael Rooms to understand the splendour of the School of Athens, painted by Raphael in the same years that Michelangelo worked at the Sistine Chapel. Immerse yourself in the life of the papal court he attended and superbly represented. With surprising details, including fabrics, jewelry, vices and unexpected secrets (such as the graffiti by foreign troops raiding the papal palaces).

Reach the Sistine Chapel and the Raphael Rooms after discovering and loving the most beautiful classical works kept in the Vatican Museums, from the Laocoön to the Apollo Belvedere, and having absorbed the taste of classical art.

Finally reach directly - without any queues - the St. Peter's Basilica and visit the most significant works of art. Join among all the most intimate embrace of the Italian Renaissance, with Michelangelo's Pietà; and walk with your eyes the vertiginous columns of the Canapy by Bernini, placed above the high altar of the church.