Rome Day two ...St Peters Basilica and Museum

We tried to get St Peters Basilica early...I took a panorama of the buildings:

Black and white inside the columns:

In order to enter the Basilica you have to go through security first..The Basilica is beautiful and full of photo opportunities..You could spend a half a day there.

Bacilica deminsions: Length	730 feet (220 m)
Width	500 feet (150 m)
Height (max)	452 feet (138 m)

.Here are some photos of the interior. There are many side alters in addition to the main alter.

The first one is taken with my Iphone 4:

Main Alter

Side Alter

Main alter from the side:

One of many side alters:

There are statues and paintings all over the church:

Now if you really want to see some beauty look up:

Now it is time to go to the St Peters Museum:

Lots of Roman Artifacts..Lots of Roman Coffins..I wonder who has the contents:

 There are many sculptures of famous Romans

Here is a view of a room full of Roman Statues:

Here is my favorite Roman head sculpture..the sculpture doesn't have a hat..its a shadow from a light:

After the Roman museum there is the Egyptian Museum:

After the Eqyptian Museum you go through a series of hallways showing various Popes apartments, paintings, beautiful ceilings..etc.

You finally get to your objective..down a packed hallway to the Sistine chappel and Michael Angelo's painted ceiling:

You are herded into the Sistine chappel ..shoulder to shoulder..There are employees of the Vatican yelling 

That photographs are not allowed..I took a couple of available light shots from waist level.. The paintings don't look that old because they have been reconditioned (repainted in 1984)

When you leave the sistine chapple (which is actually not that big) you are confronted with tables and displays selling almost everything you can imagine, inclusing photographs of the Sistine Chappel.