Springtime is a very popular time to visit Rome and the Vatican City. And for good reason. The weather is warmer. The gardens and parks are in bloom, with huge pots of azaleas providing a burst of color on the Spanish Steps. And for the thousands of churches, it is time to celebrate Easter.

Of course, the most popular place to visit during Easter is St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Peter’s Square (Piazza San Pietro). The Pope presides over several services at the basilica during Holy Week, including morning and evening masses on Holy Thursday, an afternoon vigil on Good Friday, and an evening mass on Holy Saturday. The big event, Easter Sunday mass, is celebrated in St. Peter’s Square, where thousands gather to watch the Pope bless an icon of the risen Christ and hear the Pope’s “Urbi et Orbi” message delivered from the balcony of the papal apartments.

The Pope also travels to other churches in Rome during Easter time to perform holy rites. On Maundy Thursday, the Pope typically delivers the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at St. John Lateran (San Giovanni in Laterano), the church for the Bishop of Rome – the Pope’s other official title. After St. Peter’s, this is the second-most important basilica in Rome and worth a visit even if you aren’t in town during Easter. (Also in this area is the Scala Santa, purported to be the “holy stairs” that led to the throne of Pontius Pilate. Saint Helena, mother of Constantine, brought these stairs to Rome from Jerusalem in 326 A.D. and Christians have been venerating them ever since.)

The Stations of the Cross Vigil in the Colosseum

Click here if you are unable to see the video above.

Another intriguing site to visit during Easter is the Colosseum, where the Stations of the Cross are held during an evening vigil on Good Friday. The Pope presides over this rite in the arena where many ancient Christians are said to have been “thrown to the lions.” The Colosseum was consecrated as a church in 1749 to commemorate these early persecutions of Christians and stem the pillaging of the structure’s building materials.

Note that seating at the Colosseum on Good Friday and in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday is very limited. Free tickets for these events must be reserved well in advance with your local diocese.

Leading up to Holy Week, there are several other opportunities to see and/or hear a blessing from the Pope, including on Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is also the the typical day on which World Youth Day, a celebration initiated by Pope John Paul II, is held in St. Peter’s Square. The Pope also delivers a blessing to general audiences each Wednesday throughout the year. For more information about applying to participate in a general audience with the Pope, review this information from the Prefecture of the Papal Household.

For more ideas on visiting holy Rome, have a look at the links below. You may also visit the official website of the Vatican for information on the Pope, the Holy See, and liturgical services.

Papal Basilicas of Rome
Santa Maria Maggiore
San Giovanni in Laterano
San Paolo Fuori Le Mura

Additional links of interest
Getting Into the Vatican Museums
Italy’s Most Unusual Religious Relics
Angels and Demons Tourism

Photo © WiltshireYan

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According to About.com, the Vatican Museums are going to be open late to visitors on July 24.

Visitors will be admitted from 7 pm until 9:30 pm with the museums closing at 11 pm and booking is required, according to Cultural Italy (tickets can be reserved through their site for a fee).

Sounds like a great way to spend a summer evening in Rome!

Photo by Malouette

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Are you looking for information about Holy Week in Rome and the Vatican? Here’s a calendar snippet taken from vatican.va. If you want to find out about Easter celebrations in the rest of Italy, head over to our Tourism Boards page and click on your desired location. Most bureaus will have information posted.

APRIL

5 Palm Sunday and Passion of the Lord
Saint Peter’s Square, at 9.30
Blessing of the Palms,
Procession and Holy Mass

9 Holy Thursday
Vatican Basilica, at 9.30
Chrismal Mass

Basilica of Saint John Lateran, at 17.30
CAPPELLA PAPALE
Beginning of the Paschal Triduum
Mass of the Lord’s Supper

10 Good Friday
Vatican Basilica, at 17.00
CAPPELLA PAPALE
Celebration of the Lord’s Passion

Colosseum, at 21.15
Way of the Cross

11 Holy Saturday
Vatican Basilica, at 21.00
CAPPELLA PAPALE
Easter Vigil in the Holy Night

12 Easter Sunday
Saint Peter’s Square, at 10.30
Holy Mass of the Day

Central Loggia of the Vatican Basilica, at 12.00
“Urbi et Orbi” Message and Blessing

26 – 3rd Easter Sunday
St. Peter’s Square, at 10.00
Canonization of Blesseds:
-Arcangelo Tadini
-Bernardo Tolome
-Nuno de Santa Maria Álvares Pereira
- Geltrude Comensoli
- Caterina Volpicelli

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You no longer have to go to Rome to have an audience with the Pope. Now, with the new Vatican YouTube channel, the Benedict XVI will come to you. According to Reuters, the daily videos will be about two minutes long and will feature info about church events and the Pope’s activities. Hopefully, the site will include more than just Pope Benedict talking. It’d be neat to see a Vatican tour around Easter and Christmas – I always love to see how St. Peter’s is decked out for the holidays.

Initially, the briefings will be broadcast in English, Spanish, German, and Italian. For more info about the Vatican, you can go to www.vatican.va, where you can also find links to the Vatican’s live radio feed.

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It’s getting ever more difficult to get into the Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani), home to some of the world’s most precious and recognizable Western art including Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. The Vatican recently raised prices to €13 (ca. $17) for a non-guided visit and, according to the New York Times, the Museums are reducing visiting times for individual travelers not part of a tour group. The average tourist must now wait until 10 a.m. to get in (as opposed to 8:45 a.m. for tour group members) and the ticket office stays open only until 3:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. in the low season).

So what’s the solo traveler to do?

One way to avoid the lines is to pay a bit more for an official guided tour. For €23.50 (about $31), you can reserve a guided tour, which includes admission, the two hour guided tour, a headset, and the privilege to avoid the queues. The Vatican notes on its website that “all visitors, individuals or groups booked with this Office, are entitled to enter through the main gate of the Vatican Museums on Viale Vaticano. Facing the Vatican Museums Entrance door, the line on the right is specifically for reserved guided Vatican tours.” Unfortunately, to reserve guided tour tickets you must FAX (!) your request to 06 6988 5100. (The Vatican has never been an institution known for its early adoption of technology, but fax reservations?!?)

If you’re lucky, and your trip coincides with the last Sunday of the month, then you can get into the Museums for free. Free entry is available from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Expect heavy crowds, of course. See the Museum calendar.

There are also private ticket booking services, such as Select Italy and tickitaly.com, that assist with reservations to the Vatican Museums as well as to other Italy attractions (e.g., the Uffizi Museums, Campo dei Miracoli, etc.). While these services can take the guesswork (and legwork) out of securing tickets, the mark-up can be astronomical.

A visit to the Vatican Museums should be on the itinerary of every first timer’s trip to Rome. But if your time is limited, say to a weekend, you’d be better off checking out Rome’s other showstoppers. A religious itinerary could include a visit to one or all of the four Patriarchal Basilicas of Rome. And, fantastic art is on view at the Capitoline Museums and in many minor churches around the city.

Your final option for checking out the Vatican Museums collection without spending a lot of money or time? Take an online tour.

For in-depth information about the Vatican Museums’ new entrance policies, see Vatican Takes Steps to Control Overcrowding by Elisabetta Povoledo.

Photo by Malouette

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