Visit the Sistine Chapel

“By that point, we had already spent a couple of hours in the Vatican Museums, and while the experience had been pretty special so far, the Sistine Chapel was on an entirely different level. The combination of the sanctity of the space, the near silence created by the rules despite the large crowd, and the extraordinary paintings covering the walls and ceiling was truly overwhelming. We quickly realized there were two main ways to experience the Sistine Chapel. One option was to stand in the central area, which is designated for visitors who want to admire the artwork while standing. We were, however, drawn to the wooden benches lining the sides of the chapel, which were completely full at first. After a few minutes, several people nearby left, allowing us both to sit down and take in the ceiling in a much more relaxed way.”

“I can’t remember how long it took us to make our way through the maze that is the Vatican Museum, but when we finally made it through the doorway into the Sistine Chapel my first thought was how it was smaller than I had expected. But then I looked up at the ceiling and thought “My God this is magnificent.” I just looked up from one end of the ceiling to the next. Each panel. Each story it told. Each face. The tourists that filled the room didn’t quite understand the concept of “no photos,” and were occasionally shushed by one of the guard’s stern clap of hands and “SILENCIO!” [...] It was such a profound experience for me that the memory alone will always allow me to relive the moment.”

“But I found it. At ten past eight in the evening, before the vast majority of people have made it, it’s relatively quiet. I went back later, after having a little look at everything else and it was absolutely packed at 9.30 – and this is considered the quiet semi-private evening session! I can’t imagine what it’s like during the day in high season. [...] No one paid attention to this rule, which meant every now and then one of the bouncers would get on the microphone and demand silence in a voice that echoed around the room. That usually got the noise level to drop but it gave the room an air of expectation – why do we have to be quiet, what’s about to happen? And then when nothing happened, the volume went up again.”