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What is the best way to Visit the Vatican Museums during the Jubilee Year of 2025

 

What is the best way  to Visit the Vatican Museums during the Jubilee Year of 2025?

For the Catholic Church, the Jubilee is the year of the remission of sins, reconciliation, conversion, and sacramental penance. It is also called the Holy Year and is the period during which the Pope grants plenary indulgence to the faithful who go to Rome and perform particular religious practices: crossing the Holy Door, confessing, taking Communion, praying, and performing a work of piety, mercy, or penance.

It is recommended to get organized well in advance. Since the Jubilee Year is celebrated every 25 years, around 25 million people are expected to come to Rome this year. So,what are the best ways to visit Rome during this year? Well,let’s start by saying that from February to May there will be an opportunity to visit the famous churches of Rome,especially St. Peter’s Basilica. To see the Holy Doors, you have to walk from Castel Sant'Angelo toward Via della Conciliazione. There, you will see the Vatican staff dressed in green with the Jubilee symbol. Once near St. Peter’s Bernini Colonnade, you will pass through a security check at the metal detector, which will take 45 minutes to an hour.Afternoon Vatican tours are also an option. Since most of thereligious people will be focused on how to get to St. Peter’s Basilica, you can head to the Vatican Museums and theSistine Chapel, where the waiting line should take between30 minutes and an hour. It is best to take a guided tour so you can skip the line, go straight to the Sistine Chapel, and take a shortcut through the secret door at the back, to get tothe Basilica. If you don’t have tickets yet, visit the Vatican Museums website to get them with the reservation included,thus avoiding the long lines. Get a map inside the museum so you know which are the most important galleries in the museum, from the gallery of maps to the Belvedere Courtyard, passing by the stunning statue of Laocoön and His Sons, along with the Apollo Belvedere, which was put back on display in the Vatican after a long restoration. Last but not least, don’t miss the Belvedere Torso, another amazing statue from the Apollonian Athenian tradition.

Walking through the beautiful rooms of the Vatican Museums, you will reach the Sistine Chapel, home of the most famous fresco paintings in the world. You can silently admire Michelangelo’s ceiling or the works of Botticelli and Perugino, who depicted stories of Christ from the New Testament and of Moses from the Old Testament. Walk to the back, where you will have a great view of the entireSistine Chapel, and if the guards are distracted, take a photo.

When you are in St. Peter’s Square, on the left side, toward the Swiss Guard (where Pope Francis enters), you will findsome gift shops and a post office. You can send postcards from there to your friends back home, and they will be delivered directly from the Vatican City State since you are still within the smallest independent country in the world.

Did you visit the underground grottoes at St. Peter’s Basilicaor take the Scavi tour? You can see St. Peter’s Tomb below, and as you approach the Catacombs of the Popes, you will have the option to go up to the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. You can use the elevator (which costs €10) or walk to the top. The view from there of the Vatican City and Rome is incredible.

After touring the Vatican Museums for about four hours, if you are getting hungry, a few blocks from the Vatican Museums is a traditional restaurant called Vinsanto Vino & Cucina, on Via Germanico 5. Try their carbonara, it’s the best. Or if it’s too crowded with tourists, walk about 200 meters and you will find another amazing restaurant called La Soffitta Renovatio, right next to Piazza del Risorgimento, where all the Vatican employees eat. Even Pope John Paul IIused to eat there, so it’s a very well-known restaurant in Rome, with reasonable prices and gluten-free options.

In the afternoon you can stroll through the Jewish Ghetto and the Trastevere neighborhood to visit Santa Maria in Trastevere and Santa Cecilia, the most important churches in Trastevere. To end your trip with a treat, visit the famous gelato shop, Otaleg, at Via di San Cosimato 14, and prepare to be surprised by how good their gelato is.