Exploring Italy Vatican Museum With Maranatha Tours - The Vatican Museums are the public art and sculpture museums in the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries including several of the most renowned Roman sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world. The museums contain roughly 70,000 works, of which 20,000 are on display, and currently employ 640 people who work in 40 different administrative, scholarly, and restoration departments.
The Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro is known to construct enormous spheres with layers of complexities. One of his monumental orbs stands tall as the centerpiece of the Courtyard of the Pinecone at the Vatican Museum. The structure titled Sfera con Sfera, translated as Sphere within a Sphere, is a bronze statue that appears golden as the sun shines down on it.
Pope Julius II founded the museums in the early 16th century. The Sistine Chapel with its ceiling decorated by Michelangelo and the Stanze di Raffaello decorated by Raphael are on the visitor route through the Vatican Museums. In 2019, they were visited by 6,882,931 persons, which combined made them the third most visited art museum in the world. They are one of the largest museums in the world.
The Vatican Museums trace their origin to one marble sculpture, purchased in the 16th century: Laocoön and His Sons was discovered on 14 January 1506, in a vineyard near the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Pope Julius II sent Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo Buonarroti, who were working at the Vatican, to examine the discovery. On their recommendation, the pope immediately purchased the sculpture from the vineyard owner. The pope put the sculpture, which depicts the Trojan priest Laocoön and his two sons being attacked by giant serpents, on public display at the Vatican exactly one month after its discovery.
Chef Reilly's Recipe of the Month
On The Road Eats Dauphinoise Potato Recipe...Try this super easy and super good homemade Dauphinoise Potato Recipe!
Maranatha Tours Tour Guide Travel Book
In the Maranatha Tour Guide you will find itineraries, dates and prices for a few of the tours we have traveling Though The Bible. If after looking at the Tour Guide you find that the dates do not work with your schedule, please let us know. We will then see if we have other tours available that will match your needs. We have groups traveling throughout the year that might be a good fit.
Also, we have listed other trips that our Tour Hosts allowed us to show on our website. Please visit maranathatours.com and click Hosted Tours. Look for the dates you would like to go and see if there is space available on your requested tour. Each Tour Host listed is excited about you joining them on their trip of a lifetime.
If you would like to sign up for one of the enclosed tours, simply fill out the reservation form and return it along with your deposit to our office. We will then send you additional information regarding the tour.
If you are a Tour Host or Clergy: Join us on a ‘Your Tour’ customized to your exact specifications. Tour where and how you like. You can build the cost on a large or small group, with minimal increase for the latter. Other factors such as departure dates, length of tour, additional destinations, classification of hotels, site selection, specific guide requests and special times for study and devotion can be included in the planning of ‘your’ tour. We look forward to hearing from you and serving you on YOUR “Trip of a Lifetime.”