Vatican Museums Guided Tour

• Tour with an official Vatican guide
• Skip the line and don't waste your time
• See the famous Laocoon, the amazing Sistine Chapel and the Raphael's Rooms
• Immerse yourself in the majesty of the Vatican Museums
• Stay in the museums how long you want after the guided tour

Museums

The Vatican museums are a huge complex of environments and works; in more than 400 years have found place here artistic testimonies belonging to every era, from the ancient Egypt to the Etruscans, from the Greeks and Romans to the Renaissance, and also some modern and contemporary art works.

History

In 1506 in a vineyard in Rome, was found a marble sculpture representing the greek priest Laocoon and his sons; Michelangelo Buonarroti and Giuliano da Sangallo suggested Pope Julius II to buy it and this is the date of birth of the Vatican Museums.

Collections

By placing all the ancient statues in a natural environment, Pope Julius II founded the first nucleus of the Museums, the Courtyard of Statues; then he asked Raphael Sanzio to decorate the famous Rooms and the Loggia.

All the environments and the museums that we find inside the complex, were created thanks to a Pope, starting from the Sistine Chapel founded in 1475 by Sixtus IV’s will and inaugurated in 1483, or the Niccolina Chapel painted by Beato Angelico under Pope Nicholas V. Further we find the Borgia Apartment, the Gallery of Maps decorated under Pope Gregory XIII and the Gallery of Tapestries; then there is the Etruscan Museum founded in 1837, the Egyptian Museum founded in 1839 and the Profane Museum founded in 1844, all wanted by Pope Gregory XVI.

The Pio-Clementino Museum was founded by Pope Clemente XIV and enlarged by Pope Pius VI to receive all the Greek and Roman masterpieces; under Pope Pius XI was created the Pinacoteca and the Missionary-Ethnological Museum. The Historical Museum was founded in 1973 by Pope Paul VI and it contains also the Carriage Pavilion with automobiles, carriages and sedan chairs used by various popes; in the same year, was added also the Collection of Modern Religious Art, while at the beginning of the 19th century, Pope Pius VII Chiaramonti had founded the Chiaramonti Museum fitted out by Antonio Canova.

Masterpieces

Ancient art:

• The group of Laocoon
• Apollo of Belvedere
• Torso Belvedere
• Apoxyomenos

Medieval art:

• Giotto, Polittico Stefaneschi, 1320 approx.

Renaissance art:

• Michelangelo, St. Pietro’s crucifixion, 1545 approx.
• Raphael, Transfiguration, 1518 approx.
• Leonardo da Vinci, St. Gerolamo, 1480 approx.

Modern art:

• Caravaggio, Deposition, 1603 approx.
• Antonio Canova, Perseus triumphantly, 1800 approx.

The following options can be purchased in addition to the tickets in the booking Wizard on this website.

Reduced/Half Ticket:

• Citizens under 18 years old (valid identity document needed at the entrance)

Free Ticket (it is still required to pay the presale to skip the line):

• Children under 6 years old (valid identity document needed at the entrance)

1. It is necessary to book at least 5 workdays before the visit.
2. The ticket is valid 1 day, starting from entrance time. After the guided tour you can stay inside as long as you want until closing time of the Museums.
3. The tickets will be sent via email within 24-48 hours after purchase (on weekdays) with instructions on how to get there and what to do to enter.
4. We inform you that, once booked, the date and time selected are binding. It is advisable to arrive 20 minutes early with a valid document to pass the security controls; we suggest to have little bags with you.
5. In front of museum you will be allowed to skip the line choosing the lateral entrance designed for groups. Also the ticket-office where you have to change your voucher with real tickets is the group's one. After clearing security, the meeting point will be at the "Guided Tours" booth, which is located straight ahead up the small staircase on the left.
6. You are invited to dress appropriately.
7. Italy Tickets is not responsible for eventual lack of service caused by the ticket offices or activities of the Holy Father.