Rome - Day 3

by Jeremy

First we got on the metro to go to St Peter's Basilica. We got off the train a little bit away from the  Basilica, so we had to walk about ten minutes to get there.

Eventually we arrived at Vatican City and saw a magnificent view of St Peter's Square and the Basilica.  One of the most amazing features of the Basilica is the dome, which rises up 138m above St Peter's Square.

There was quite a long queue to get into the Basilica, but it moved quickly and it only took us about 25 minutes to get in.

As soon as we got in we sped up some stairs to the first part of the Basilica dome.  It was inside and gave you an extraordinary view of the inside architecture of the Basilica.  We were so high up that the people down below looked as small as little ants.

Did you know that the Basilica is a late Renaissance church that was started in 1506 and opened in 1626.  It is one of the most famous examples of Renaissance architecture and remains one of the largest churches in the world!

Continuing up, the stairs got smaller and smaller and were also leaning to one side.  This is because we were inside the very top of the dome.

Here is a magnificent, outstanding and incredible of St Peter's square which was taken from the very top of the dome.

Unfortunately when we were at the top of the dome Daniel ran down the stairs without telling anyone.  He thought he was in big trouble but he wasn't.  Irregardless, he threw a massive tanty over absolutely nothing.  He is in the middle of his tanty in the photo below.

Here is a picture of us resting after visiting the Basilica.  Later that day we went to the Vatican Museum and saw the Sistine Chapel which had paintings of naked people all over the roof and walls.  The chapel was starting in 1473 and painted by Michelangelo and many other famous Renaissance artists.