Vatican Museums Site Features

The Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo painted the ceiling between 1508 and 1512 and returned for The Last Judgment from 1535 to 1541 — well over 460 square metres of fresco across a vault about 40 metres long. He painted it over a finished ceiling: the vault had been a brilliant blue sky dotted with gold stars, designed by Piermatteo d'Amelia. It is still the chapel in which cardinals vote for a pope. There is no separate ticket and no separate entrance — it is the end of the museum route, included in your admission.

The Laocoön group

The founding object of the collection, discovered on 14 January 1506. In August 2022 two climate activists glued themselves to its marble base and unfurled a banner while a third filmed — a reminder that it stands in an open court rather than behind glass.

The Raphael Rooms

Raphael and his workshop, including the School of Athens of 1509–1511. Reached shortly before the Sistine Chapel, and routinely walked through too fast by people saving themselves for it.

The Gallery of Maps

Italy mapped region by region on the corridor walls, commissioned by Gregory XIII and painted by Ignazio Danti between 1572 and 1585.

The Sala delle Muse

Apollo and the nine muses, uncovered in a Roman villa near Tivoli in 1774 and displayed as a group, alongside work by named ancient Greek and Roman sculptors.

The Etruscan museum

Nine galleries founded by Gregory XVI in 1837, holding material from excavations across the Papal State. Among the least crowded rooms in the complex, which on a busy day is worth more than it sounds.

The Bramante Staircase

Giuseppe Momo's 1932 double spiral at the exit. Photograph it looking down the open centre, not across it.