The first years of life in Rome, the idea of climbing the dome of St. Peter's Basil was constantly, but constantly postponed.
Followers of my Instagram know that I conduct individual tours at dawn to enjoy Rome without crowds of tourists, and there are always enough of them on the main square of the Vatican.
We usually start our walks in Rome at 6 am, depending on the time of the year and at ten o’clock, when the bulk of the excursions begin, we are already far from the main attractions enjoying the atmosphere of the Eternal City, for example, Villa Borghese.
However, you have a chance to more or less comfortably admire Rome from the "roof of the world" if you are one of the first to come to the Vatican. In 2016, our parents visited us, and we decided to tick off our Roman biography.
The reason I immediately postponed visiting the dome immediately after moving to Rome was the not quite correct (outdated) information on most sites about the opening time of the dome. In fact, as of 2019, the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in practice opens for visits at 07:30 in the morning, and not at 8. This information is always easy to clarify on the official website of the Vatican. The basilica itself opens at 07:00 and is strategically important, if you want to enjoy its beauty almost alone and avoid a minimum of an hour, come 10-15 minutes before the opening. Having passed the security system in 1 minute, you comfortably walk an hour through the cathedral and get the opportunity to be the first to climb the highest point in Rome.
Followers of my instagram know that in March 2019, I climbed the dome for the 20th time.
The first time we arrived at the Vatican at about 7 in the morning and, having stood a small 5-minute line, were at the ticket offices. Keep in mind that to buy a ticket you will need good old cash - no credit cards, student discounts, or Roma Pass tourist cards.
So, you are before a choice take the elevator for 10 euros and overcome 320 steps or save 2 euros and feel 231 steps more. Prices are current 2019.
We deliberately chose the option “on foot”, as we wanted to test in our experience how difficult it is and to train a little the muscles of the back of the thigh. We will go by elevator or go on foot controlled by a special guard. The remaining 200 times I already took the elevator, since you need to save energy for other attractions - in Rome there is something to see.
At the beginning, the steps are quite low and easy to climb. The only thing is that you constantly go around in a circle a little dizzy.
Tip: be sure to bring a bottle of water with you, as you will probably want to drink. There are no shops inside the cathedral.
On the way, you can look into one of the few windows and explore the territory of the Vatican.
The first climb - 231 steps - took us about 10 minutes. At half past eight the sun is already high enough, but still not as hot as at noon.
This is how the dome looks from its bottom. This area sometimes attracts various figures who want to attract attention climb onto the walls or domes of the cathedral. It’s not so difficult to get over the barriers with a certain skill and desire.
And so St. Peter's Basilica, if you have a height of about 2 meters. If not, then you will have to look at all this beauty through the bars. Security, there's nothing to be done.
Then the fun begins - the ascent to the dome.
With each new span, the steps become smaller, cooler and narrower. And in the end, and on one side, a wall hangs over you, you have to lean a little to the right.
Be extremely careful on these small spiral staircases.
If you have very broad shoulders, such as the famous athlete Misha Prygunov, or a big belly, you will have to group a little, inhale and go sideways. Otherwise, the crowd will need to push you through.
Personally, I would not recommend climbing to the canopy with guys with a shoulder size of 54 or more (I personally have 52 sizes), as well as overweight and cardiac diseases.
After such a feat, a reward awaits you! The best view of Rome opens from the roof of St. Peter's Basilica!
Enjoying the view from the dome, it becomes apparent what colors prevail in the architecture of the Eternal City. There is nothing special to write, see everything with your own eyes.
In this trailer is the Vatican Post, where you can send a greeting card to yourself or friends. The idea is that the postcard will bear the stamp of the Vatican city-state. 2 more post offices can be found in the left in the right colonnade.
The Vatican Railway is the shortest branch in the world.
Guess which hill we will go to admire an alternative view of the Vatican?
In my opinion, climbing the dome is best on one of the last days of rest. Or if you are sure that you will return then leave it on the second, third visit.
As mentioned above, I have never, for dozens of visits to work and even a year after moving, perhaps subconsciously searched for reasons not to climb to the “top of the world”, leaving the tastiest for later.
You must admit that it is much more interesting to enjoy the city when you not only look down on buildings, but also recognize the streets, places, and sights that have erased more than one pair of moccasins. Everything falls into place, the picture appears and maps from Google are loaded not only into your iPhone, but also into your brain. Zen enlightenment comes. And the castle of the Holy Angel seems quite toy-like and the avenue Via della Conciliazione is not so wide.
At the observation deck, we spent about half an hour, there were more and more tourists and we decided to go down. On the roof of the cathedral you can almost come close to the statues of the apostles. An interesting point is that they are almost flat behind, that is, they worked more carefully on the “facade” part.
This is what the main observation deck of Rome looks like - tourists in a cage.
The descent passes through another staircase, so that you do not intersect with the oncoming stream.
Going down you find yourself inside the cathedral and you have another chance to enjoy its grandeur and, of course, a dome from a different angle.
I hope you liked this photo report and helped to decide whether to climb the dome of St. Peter’s Cathedral. In my opinion, if you are too lazy to wake up at 6 in the morning, and for the majority even after reading this article it will still be too much for you, then I do not recommend spending time and energy raising in the daytime with thousands of the same unfortunate. And I will definitely return there, at dawn, in good company.
The editors of the site ITALY FOR ME invites you on excursions in Rome without crowds of tourists at dawn
