Vatican Question

[wheatley]

If we book a Vatican museum tour for 10:30 on a Wed. during the papal audience, I understand that St. Peter's is closed at this time. Would it be possible to see St. Peters after the tour? Would this involve a lot of extra walking? Are the crowds going to extreme in Sept? We are only in Rome for the Wed. Would it be better to book an afternoon tour?

Thanks for your help. I'm learning so much from all your answers.

[photographia]

Ordinarily, after the papal audience, St. Peter's is opened. (It may take them a while to get everything set up, unlocked, whatever.) Don't know what you mean by "a lot of extra walking." You're going to walk for what seems like miles through the Vatican Museums, but every step will be worth it! St. Peter's is totally worth it too, although it involves much less trekking than the museums do.

[njguy_south]

The Basillica of St. Peter's does not close during the papal audience. (That audience is not held in te Basillica, but in a sep. auditorium.) Are you going this summer? If so, the pope is not in Rome, and there are no audiences at the Vatican. One would have to travel to his summer residence to see him.

[wheatley]

We will be there on Sept. 10. Do you know if the pope will be there then?

[jfgdbg]

The Basillica of St. Peter's does not close during the papal audience. (That audience is not held in te Basillica, but in a sep. auditorium.) Are you going this summer? If so, the pope is not in Rome, and there are no audiences at the Vatican. One would have to travel to his summer residence to see him.

 

When we were in Rome last October the Papal Audience was held outside in St. Peters Square. Probably depends on the weather.

[photographia]

The Basillica of St. Peter's does not close during the papal audience. (That audience is not held in te Basillica, but in a sep. auditorium.) Are you going this summer? If so, the pope is not in Rome, and there are no audiences at the Vatican. One would have to travel to his summer residence to see him.

 

That's not quite true. When the papal audiences are held outdoors in the Piazza, the Basilica is closed. It may be open when the audiences are held indoors, BUT in the last couple of years, they have been having audiences outdoors as much as possible. The crowds around the new Pope have been tremendous, and more people can fit into the square outdoors than into the auditorium indoors. So only when it's really frigid are they having indoor audiences these days. (Have you seen those pictures of the Pope wearing a "Santa hat"? That's because he's outdoors for many audiences and it's chilly out there!)

 

The Pope is only out of town for several weeks during the summer, not for the whole summer. Right now he's in Rome, but he's getting ready to go to Australia for World Youth Day, so obviously there will be no audiences then; then he's going on vacation and then to Castel Gandolfo (the papal summer residence, outside of Rome). I was surprised to see this year in the official announcement of his schedule--which I accidentally came across on some news website--that he will hardly be having any public events at Castel Gandolfo at all this year.