PDF Rome Vatican City, Borgo & Prati (PDF Chapter) Edition 9th Edition, Jan 2016 Pages 29 COVERAGE INCLUDES: Page Range 120–139, 214–222 • Neighbourhood Top • Sleeping Five Useful Links • Local Life Want more guides? • Getting There & Head to our shop Away Trouble with your PDF? • Sights Trouble shoot here • Eating Need more help? • Drinking & Nightlife Head to our FAQs • Entertainment Stay in touch • Shopping Contact us here © Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd. To make it easier for you to use, access to this PDF chapter is not digitally restricted. In return, we think it’s fair to ask you to use it for personal, non-commercial purposes only. In other words, please don’t upload this chapter to a peer-to-peer site, mass email it to everyone you know, or resell it. See the terms and conditions on our site for a longer way of saying the above – ‘Do the right thing with our content’. ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd 120 Vatican City, Borgo & Prati VATICAN CITY | BORGO | PRATI | AURELIO Neighbourhood Top Five 1 Gazing heavenwards at 2 Being blown away by the 4 Revelling in the won- Michelangelo’s masterpieces super-sized opulence of St derful rooftop views from in the Sistine Chapel Peter’s Basilica (p122). Castel Sant’Angelo (p134). (p108) – on the ceiling, his 3 Trying to line up the col- 5 Marvelling at the cinematic Old Testament umns on St Peter’s Square vibrant colours of the frescoes; on the western (p134) – it is possible. fabulously frescoed Stanze wall, his terrifying vision of di Raffaello (p108). the Last Judgment. 000 000 le 000 000 Parco a 000 000 f 000V 0400000 m della n 000i e# 0000.2 mile0s io a Vittoria r 000 S T P e e ll L TRIONFALE n ic lizie o gt i o lle Mi z a V M a ale de t Vi l ia l ic a Dami he v rlet n 000 000 la o Viale Giulio Cesare 000 Ba c n r 000 at i 000 a a Pompeo g Vi Ma Vi o e C ia000 a r Vi o Magn l D a a rc o 0000000 dre Co Vi 0000000 n L 00 a A a a eo lo 0000000 Vi 00 n Piazza 0000000 00 n to 0000000 ne IV 00 na 0000000 o 00 n della o i 0000000 n ic o Libertà 0000000 a rman V a i e 0000000 i G v a i 0000000 Candia Vi a V Via a V o t L t i r 000000000000 Vi a u p c O o i 000000000000 a T nz r 000000000000 e a C A e a 000000000000 c z i 000000000000no i ca Piazza del R t i V ti000000000000000000 a Cola di Ri o Vi e o a 000000000000000000 C 000000000000â# 000000Risorgimento PRATI go V 000000 a e 000000 l r l Vatican Vi o o a 000000 a Cresce Vi 000000Vi nzio V Museums a a 0000S i Piazza 0000 Po n a a 0000000000rc i T Cavour 0000000000a r ri r o 0000000000i l d l b 000000 0000 A 000 e a on 000000000 BORG000000O 0000t 0000z Giar00dini0 s z a i 000000000 Bo 0000000000i 0000000 an 000000000000 rgo Pio 0000a P 0000di Ca00stel0 00000 000000000000 0000C 0000000 00000000000 0000000005# 000 0000 Sant'Angelo o 00000000000 000000000000 0000P 00000000000 000000000000 0000a lo 1# i l VATICA0000N CITY0000000 000000000000 Via della 0000 4# aste 00000000000 0000000000000000000000000000V 0 C (CIT0000TÀ DE000000L0 0000000000000000000000000000 0 Lgt 00000000000 2# 0000000003# 000000000000000Conciliazione 0000 0 iver 00000000000 00000000000000 Ponte ber R VATI0000CANO000000)0 00000000000St Peter's Sq00uare0 000 Ti 00000000000 00000000000 000 Sant'Angelo ona 00000000000 000000000(Piazza San Pietro) 00ia0 r di N 00000000000 000000000 00s 0 Lgt To 00000000000 s 00 00000000000 Gianicolo a 00 000000 allegge S 00 000000 v ri (Janiculum) n 00 0000 Ca i 00 Via Aureli0000a rta t 00 0000 Po g 0000di L 0000ia 0000V 0000 For more detail of this area see Map p312 A 121 Lonely Planet’s Explore: Vatican City, Borgo & Prati Top Tip The Vatican, the world’s smallest sovereign state (a mere Be wary of the touts around 0.44 sq km), sits atop the low-lying Vatican hill a few Ottaviano metro station hundred metres west of the Tiber. Centred on the domed selling queue-jumping tours bulk of St Peter’s Basilica, it boasts some of Italy’s most of the Vatican Museums. revered artworks, many of which are housed in the vast These guys are on com- Vatican Museums. mission to round up clients You’ll need at least a morning to do justice to the and the tours they offer Vatican Museums. The highlight is the Michelangelo- might well cost more than decorated Sistine Chapel, but there’s enough art on those sold on the museums’ display to keep you busy for years. If you’re with a tour official website. guide, or if you can sneakily join onto a group, you can Note that if you want to pass directly from the Sistine Chapel through to St attend Easter or Christmas Peter’s Basilica; otherwise you’ll have to walk around mass at St Peter’s you’ll and approach from St Peter’s Sq, itself one of the Vati- have to book (free) tickets can’s most dramatic sights. Once finished in the basilica, through the Prefettura you’ll be ready for a break. There are few good eating della Casa Pontificia options in the Vatican itself, but the nearby Prati district (www.vatican.va/various/ is full of excellent trattorias, takeaways and restaurants. prefettura/index_en.html). Between the Vatican and the river lies the medieval dis- trict of the Borgo – before Mussolini bulldozed Via dei Con- VATICAN VATICAN ciliazione through the area, all the streets around St Peter’s 5 Best Places were like this. The big sight here is Castel Sant’Angelo, the to Eat large, drum-shaped castle overlooking the river. ¨ Pizzarium (p138) The Vatican, Borgo and Prati districts are all easy to ¨ Romeo (p136) C reach by public transport. PRATI & BORGO ITY, ¨ Velavevodetto Ai Quiriti (p136) Local Life ¨ Enoteca La Torre (p137) For reviews, see p135.A ¨Fast Food Rather than having a full-length midday meal, local office workers tend to grab a snack from the many excellent takeaways in Prati. Join them and lunch 6 Best Places on pizza al taglio (pizza by the slice), arancine (deep-fried to Drink rice balls stuffed with cheese and vegetables) and gelato. ¨ Sciascia Caffè (p138) ¨Shopping Spearing off Piazza del Risorgimento, Via Cola di Rienzo is a popular shopping strip lined with ¨ Makasar (p138) department stores and midrange clothes shops. ¨ Art Studio Café (p138) ¨Catch a Gig Join the locals for sweet melodies at ¨ Passaguai (p138) Alexanderplatz (p138), Rome’s oldest and most famous For reviews, see p138.A jazz joint. Another top venue is the basement pub Fonclea (p138). 1Best Overground & Underground Getting There & Away ¨ Dome of St Peter’s Basilica (p122) ¨Bus From Termini, bus 40 is the quickest one to the ¨ Terrace of Castel Vatican – it’ll drop you off near Castel Sant’Angelo. You Sant’Angelo (p134) can also take bus 64, which runs a similar route but stops more often. Bus 492 runs from Stazione Tiburtina ¨ Tomb of St Peter (p125) to Piazza del Risorgimento and Cipro metro station, ¨ Vatican Grottoes (p125) passing through Piazza Barberini and the centro storico. For reviews, see p134.A ¨Metro Take metro line A to Ottaviano–San Pietro. From the station, signs direct you to St Peter’s. ST PETER’S BASILICA CORNEL STEFAN ACHIREI / GETTY IMAGES © IMAGES GETTY / ACHIREI STEFAN CORNEL In a city of outstanding churches, none can hold a candle DON’T MISS… to St Peter’s, Italy’s largest, richest and most spectacular basilica. A monument to centuries of artistic genius, it ¨ Pietà contains some spectacular works of art, including three ¨ Statue of St Peter of Italy’s most celebrated masterpieces: Michelangelo’s ¨ The dome Pietà, his breathtaking dome, and Bernini’s baldachin ¨ The baldachin (canopy) over the papal altar. ¨ Cattedra di San Pietro Note that the basilica gets very busy so expect queues most days. Also, strict dress codes are enforced: no shorts, mini- skirts or bare shoulders. PRACTICALITIES ¨ History Basilica di San Pietro The original St Peter’s, which lies beneath the current ¨ Map p312 basilica, was commissioned by the emperor Constantine ¨ www.vatican.va and built around 349 on the site where St Peter is said to ¨ St Peter’s Sq have been buried between AD 64 and 67. But like many ¨ h7am-7pm summer, medieval churches, it eventually fell into disrepair and it to 6.30pm winter wasn’t until the mid-15th century that efforts were made to ¨ mOttaviano-San restore it, first by Pope Nicholas V and then, rather more Pietro successfully, by Julius II. In 1506 construction began on Bramante’s design for a new basilica based on a Greek-cross plan, with four equal arms and a huge central dome. But on Bramante’s death in 1514, building ground to a halt as architects, including Raphael and Antonio da Sangallo, tried to modify his original plans. Little progress was made and it wasn’t until Michelangelo took over in 1547 at the age of 72 that the situation changed. Michelangelo simplified Bramante’s plans and drew up designs for what was to become his greatest architectural achievement: the dome. He never lived to see it built, though, and it was left to Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana to finish it in 1590.