Visiting the Vatican City during pandemic | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Monday
October 02, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
MONDAY, OCTOBER 02, 2023
Visiting the Vatican City during pandemic

Explorer

Tareq Onu
23 December, 2020, 12:15 pm
Last modified: 23 December, 2020, 03:11 pm

Related News

  • President to begin his three-day visit to home district Pabna Wednesday
  • Letter shows Pope Pius XII probably knew about Holocaust early on
  • World disappointed by the UN now looks elsewhere for answers
  • Hasina-Macron talks: Trade, climate, migration high on agenda
  • Western exporters rob $8b in three years: PM's energy adviser

Visiting the Vatican City during pandemic

Even during the pandemic, the Vatican City has attracted people from all over the world for a lifetime worth of memories to look back on

Tareq Onu
23 December, 2020, 12:15 pm
Last modified: 23 December, 2020, 03:11 pm
Visiting the Vatican City during pandemic

The Vatican City has the richest museum in the world, with one of the longest regular entrance queues which usually takes two hours while being the smallest country in the world at the same time. 

The majestic and magical Vatican City, which is the papal state in Rome-- the centre of faith for more than one billion people around the globe— measures less than one square kilometers. 

During each of my visits to Rome, I saw long queues of awaiting visitors on the entrance to the Vatican City. But on my visit to this holy city last month in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, there were no queues. 

The entrance area of the museum was completely empty but as per the official webpage, the museum was open. We bought the entry ticket through the website, which is mandatory now due to pandemic. This was the reason behind the absence of the long queues. 

It was a sunny Monday morning in Rome and a day ago, on Sunday midday, we attended the weekly speech of the Pope at the Bernini Square. The square was full of people but we could spot the Pope in his gown behind the red curtain - praying for the wellbeing of humankind and the pandemic's cure. 

The only problem I found with the Vatican Museum is that there are too many things to concentrate on and look all around for, which truly means all around. You have to watch both the walls to your left and right, always full of something. The ceilings are filled with wonderful paintings and even the floors are superbly designed. Some of the floors were designed by the Renaissance master Michelangelo.

The Vatican Museum is well organised in a circular pattern, and direction to two of the main attractions - Sistine Chapel and Raphael Room - is pointed everywhere.

The museum is divided into a few sectors such as the Borgia Apartment, Etruscan collection, Egyptian gallery, Roman art, contemporary art, etc. 

At first we keenly inspected a painting by Leonardo da Vinci of St Bartholomew, then we watched a few by Raphael - especially the famous Transfiguration and Caravaggio.

The Egyptian gallery is famous for its collection of Mummies and other artifacts. The Roman gallery is filled with marvelous sculptures, which had us speechless with its perfect details. 

However, I was more keen about the animal sculpture gallery, where we saw several life-sized sculptures of different animals. The sculptures were perfectly created. Every strand of hair and expression could be seen clearly on the stone surface. The perfection made it seem as if all these live animals were cursed and turned into stone.  

After touring the famous tapestry gallery, we entered the shiny golden gallery of ancient maps, which has the second most photographed ceiling in the Vatican City.

Though this marvelous ceiling consumed most of the visitors' time, the antique maps were equally fascinating. 

The invaluable library of the Vatican City cannot be visited unless you have a special permit. This library gained more popularity from the movie Angels and Demons, which was shot here and due to which visitors are more interested about the closed entryway. 

And after getting lost in some labyrinth, we entered the Raphael room, which actually belonged to Pope Julius the Second. There are two paintings by Rafaello Santi on the two facing walls but "School of Athens" overshadowed the other one. 

This painting was done in such a marvelous way with blue and white sky as the background that one may get the feeling of looking at a piece of open sky instead of the wall. 

There, I started spotting Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, Ptolemy, Herodotus and the young Raphael himself with Hypatia of Alexandria - the only female in this painting, one by one. This has been a supreme sample of art in the western world.

Humanity could have gotten much more from the young Raphael, who was known as the mortal God, if he did not die in 1520 at the age of 37 only. 

In the next gallery, we surprisingly discovered a few pieces by Salvador Dali, Francis Bacon, Marc Chagall, Henry Matisse, Botero and a small sculpture of The Thinker of Auguste Rodin. Then we went to the very special room with the most famous ceiling on earth - the Sistine Chapel. This is the room where the Pope is elected and Michelangelo single-handedly covered the ceiling in four years only from 1508 to 1512 with astonishing beauty and perfection. 

The events mentioned in the Bible were introduced eventually as God separated light and darkness, created the sun and moon, land and water, then Adam and later Eve, ending with the event of Noah. 

God creating Adam is probably the most famous art in western history and their touching figures became an ever-so-popular symbol everywhere, including Nokia. Funnily enough, if you look at God with the angels next to Adam, it looks like a human brain inside the skull. 

Thirty years after painting the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo returned to paint the Last Judgement on the 45-feet-high and 40-feet-wide wall and created another masterpiece. This is the first time I saw this place to be this empty and silent. Only around 10 percent of the regular crowd was in the chapel and of course everyone had their masks on.  

After hours of art and history, we stopped for a coffee break. But the day was not over. We had to visit the grand St Peter's Cathedral - another one of the Vatican City's marvels. 

On our way, we met a few Swiss guards, the security battalion of the pope and de facto military of the Vatican City. Their journey started in 1506 and their colorful costumes were designed by Michelangelo.

From the front of the cathedral we walked through the Bernini square - a masterpiece of another Renaissance master, which was started in 1656 and took 12 years to complete. At the center stands an 84-feet-high obelisk named The Witness, which was brought from Egypt. 

This is the second highest obelisk in the world and many historical figures, including the notorious Caligula, are related to its history. The square can make you wonder about the beauty of architecture even today.

There is usually a large crowd in the cathedral, which is the second largest church in the world and has the highest dome with a radius of 463ft and one inch. The Statue of Liberty can stand inside the cathedral easily without touching the ceiling. This is one of master architect Michaelangelo's immortal works.

We wandered inside the Cathedral for an hour. On our way out, we saw another immortal work by Michelangelo - the Pietà. This is the only sculpture on which Michelangelo erected his name on stone. Sadly we cannot see the Pietà up close as it has previously been vandalised in 1972. Since then, it has been put behind a bulletproof glass and stowed away at a safe distance.      

The Vatican City is a true wonder. To be there and witness the art, architecture and history has been a grand experience. Even during the pandemic, it has attracted people from all over the world for a lifetime worth of memories to look back on.

Features / Top News

Vatican City / pandemic / VISIT

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Illustration: TBS
    Why do Bangladeshi universities fare so poorly in global rankings?
  • Big drops in remittance, exports make reserves struggle harsher
    Big drops in remittance, exports make reserves struggle harsher
  • Shahjahan Bhuiyan’s parents and two out of his three siblings passed away when he was behind bars. He missed all the funerals.  
Photo: Nayem Ali
    Hangman Shahjahan Bhuiyan: Life after 60 executions and 44 years in prison

MOST VIEWED

  • Paperfly aborts flight
    Paperfly aborts flight
  • Photo: TBS
    Habibur Rahman takes charge as 36th DMP commissioner
  • Some banks get more remittance. Is it for extra efforts, or higher dollar rates?
    Some banks get more remittance. Is it for extra efforts, or higher dollar rates?
  • How China's Belt and Road changing Bangladesh's  infrastructures
    How China's Belt and Road changing Bangladesh's infrastructures
  • Photo: TBS
    Dhaka traffic slowest in world: Study
  • US dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken on 10 March 2023. Photo: Reuters
    Remittance earnings in September lowest in 41 months

Related News

  • President to begin his three-day visit to home district Pabna Wednesday
  • Letter shows Pope Pius XII probably knew about Holocaust early on
  • World disappointed by the UN now looks elsewhere for answers
  • Hasina-Macron talks: Trade, climate, migration high on agenda
  • Western exporters rob $8b in three years: PM's energy adviser

Features

Shahjahan Bhuiyan’s parents and two out of his three siblings passed away when he was behind bars. He missed all the funerals.  
Photo: Nayem Ali

Hangman Shahjahan Bhuiyan: Life after 60 executions and 44 years in prison

1h | Panorama
Illustration: Collected

Apology to a life forgotten to live

15h | Features
Photo: Kazi Ashraf Uddin

Coffee: More than a beverage, something of a beloved

18h | Features
The price back to the normal range is possible if the corporations who control the feed market reduce the feed and chick prices. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

Will eggs ever return to their 'normal' price?

20h | Features

More Videos from TBS

Everything about the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 stadiums: Part 1

Everything about the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 stadiums: Part 1

12h | TBS SPORTS
Apple is bringing new software updates to prevent overheating

Apple is bringing new software updates to prevent overheating

14h | Tech Talk
A unique study cafe in the city

A unique study cafe in the city

13h | TBS Stories
Reserves are falling even as the dollar's share of global payments rises

Reserves are falling even as the dollar's share of global payments rises

17h | TBS Economy
EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]