Vatican Museums
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Vatican Museums house papal art collections in the Vatican Palace in Vatican City, Rome. Their collections span ancient, medieval, Renaissance, modern and ethnological art.
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Why go
- The Octagonal Courtyard holds the Laocoön group, Apollo Belvedere, Belvedere Antinous and Apoxyomenos.
- The Pinacoteca contains works by Giotto, Leonardo, Raphael and Caravaggio.
Opening hours
Today08:00 – 20:00Show all
Monday08:00 – 20:00
Tuesday08:00 – 20:00
Wednesday08:00 – 20:00
Thursday08:00 – 20:00
Friday08:00 – 20:00
Saturday08:00 – 20:00
SundayClosed
Don't miss
- Sistine Chapel ceilingMichelangelo’s frescoes cover 520 square metres and depict scenes from Genesis.Sistine Chapel
- School of AthensRaphael’s fresco is in the Stanza della Segnatura.Stanza della Segnatura
- Laocoön groupThe sculpture stands in the Octagonal Courtyard.Octagonal Courtyard
- Apollo BelvedereThe ancient statue stands in the Octagonal Courtyard.Octagonal Courtyard
- Pinturicchio’s biblical frescoesFrescoes decorate six rooms of the Borgia Apartment.Appartamento Borgia1492–1495
Know before you go
- Open Monday to Saturday, 08:00–20:00.
- Visitors enter through one passage and leave through another.
- The Lapidary Gallery is generally opened only on request for study purposes.
What's inside
- The Vatican Museums bring together museums and collections in different parts of the Vatican Palace.
- The museums include the Sistine Chapel and papal apartments frescoed by Michelangelo and Raphael.
- The Chiaramonti Museum’s Braccio Nuovo houses the Augustus of Prima Porta.
- The Chiaramonti Museum’s Lapidary Gallery contains more than 3,000 stone tablets and inscriptions.
- The museums include a carriage pavilion with vehicles once used by popes.
- Part of the modern art collection is housed in the Appartamento Borgia.
Tips for your visit
- For ancient Greek and Roman sculpture, focus on the Pio-Clementino Museum.
- Explore eight galleries of vases, sarcophagi and bronzes in the Gregorian Etruscan Museum.
- Do not assume a museum visit includes access to the Vatican Gardens; access is limited.
Interesting facts1
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70,000 works
The museums hold about 70,000 works, with 20,000 on display.
Musées du Vatican - Wikipedia
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History
Julius II began the museum collections by placing ancient sculptures, including the Apollo Belvedere and Laocoön, in the Belvedere gardens. Later additions included the Braccio Nuovo, opened in 1818 for works returned from France, and the modern religious art collection, opened in 1973.
- c. 1450Pope Nicholas V began building the present papal palace complex.
- 1471–1483Sixtus IV had the Sistine Chapel built; it was dedicated on 15 August 1483.
- 1484–1492Innocent VIII commissioned the Belvedere garden house.
- early 16th c.Julius II began the museums by moving ancient statues, including the Apollo Belvedere and Laocoön, into the Belvedere gardens.
- 1503–1513Donato Bramante linked the Belvedere with a large rectangular courtyard.
Show all
- 1771Pope Clement XIV opened the museums to the public.
- 1818The Braccio Nuovo opened to house works returned by France after Napoleon’s fall.
- 1839Gregory XVI founded the Gregorian Egyptian Museum.
- 1973The modern religious art collection opened, initiated by Paul VI, with nearly 600 works.
- February 2000John Paul II inaugurated a new museum entrance with a spiral ramp.
Sources: Vatican Museums - Wikipedia · Musei Vaticani – Sito ufficiale · Storia · Organizza la tua visita · Vatikanische Museen - Wikipedia · Musées du Vatican - Wikipedia · Musei Vaticani - Wikipedia · Vatican Museums: tickets (its own site) · checked 5 Oct 2026
Where
Viale Vaticano, Rome
- Phone
- +390669883145
Questions and answers
When are the Vatican Museums open?
Monday to Saturday, 08:00–20:00.
How do you get to the Vatican Museums from central Rome?
The entrance is at Viale Vaticano 6 in Rome.
Do you need to book tickets for the Vatican Museums?
Tickets can be bought online through the museums’ own website.
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