Photos by: Teri DiLibero

This is Jason from Roman Odyssey Tours. He was the BEST tour guide we had on the entire trip. He lured us in with a free English speaking tour of St. Peters and then said if you liked that tour, come and see the Sistine Chapel with me for a small fee. He has done over 2000 tours of the Vatican and he is likable, charismatic and speaks perfect English. He is from Louisiana. His tour rate was also extremely reasonable. About 50 people stayed for the Sistine Chapel tour. We were surprised to see about 10 leave the tour. Those people really missed out.

St. Paul at the front of St. Peter's Basilica.

St. Peter

The front of the Basilica

Sign in front of the entry to the Basilica.

There are NO paintings in St. Peters. Only incredible mosaics taken from paintings. There are several altars and tombs in St. Peters. I will describe the photos as best as I can.

Chapel of St. Sebastian
painting by Domenichino, 1628-31
mosaic by Cristofari, 1730-36

Under the altar lies the remains of Pope Innocent XI (1676-1689).

Altar of St. Basil
painting Pietro Subleyras, 1745
mosaic, 1751

The Papal Altar & Baldacchino
Bernini, 1633. Sorry for the bad clarity on the photo.

This is the largest bronze sculpture on earth. They took some bronze from the Pantheon to complete the sculpture.

Monument to Clement XIII
(July 6, 1758-Feb 2, 1769) Carlo Rezzonico
by Antonio Canova, 1792

Monument to Alexander VII
(Apr 7, 1655 - May 22, 1667) - Fabio Chigi
by Bernini, 1678

Altar of the Falsehood
painting by Roncalli, 1599-1604
mosaic, 1725-1727

Altar of Transfiguration
painting by Raphael, 1520. The mosaic was completed over 9 years by 6 artisans.

Looking out on the Square from St. Peter's. The obelisk came from Egypt in 37 AD and was positioned in the square in 1586.

Looking at part of the Colonnade of Saints. There are 140 statues going around the top of the colonnade.

Incredibly intricate floor mosaics that were brought in from another place and put into the museum. If I recall correctly, the mosaics are 1800 years old.

This one was my favorite.

Porphyry bath and sarcophagi.

We went to the Sistine Chapel next but were not allowed to take photos.

It was breathtaking! For more information on the Sistine Chapel please visit  the Vatican Site directly.