Rome: Christmas Eve Day at the Vatican

We spent Christmas Eve day taking a guided tour of the Vatican. I'm so glad we decided to do a guided tour because a) we got to skip the ridiculously long line of folks waiting to get in on their own and b) we learned things we might have missed otherwise. 

We started our tour outside in the Pine Cone (Pigna) Courtyard where a large bronze pine cone fountain stands. The fountain's original home was near the Pantheon. It was moved to the old Saint Peter's Basilica during the Middle Ages and again in 1609 to its current home at the Vatican.

Housed in the same courtyard is a giant fractured sphere created by Italian sculptor, Arnaldo Pomodoro.

As we moved from the courtyard into the Vatican, we saw many sculptures, paintings, and mosaics.

One of our favorite things was the incredible Sistine Chapel. They only allow a certain number of people into the chapel at a time. When you walk in, you see that everyone is standing with their necks strained back so that they can look at Michelangelo's masterpiece on the ceiling. It was beautiful, but unfortunately photography is not allowed inside the chapel.

After leaving the Sistine Chapel, we made our way outside in between the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica, the largest church in the world. 

In Catholic tradition, St. Peter's Basilica is said to be the burial site of Peter, apostle of Jesus. He is supposedly interred directly beneath the basilica's high altar. Because of the burial of such an important figure in early Christianity, a church has existed on this site since the time of Constantine the Great, and many popes have been buried here.

Large statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul stand near the stairs to the basilica.

We took a couple more glances at the Basilica in between some buildings, knowing that we'd be back the next day to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity.