Are eight hours enough in Vatican City? Definitely not. Today, students viewed numerous pieces of priceless arts and artifacts throughout the 70,000+ exhibits. While many students remarked on the indescribable awe of the Sistine Chapel, they were also grateful to climb to the top of the Coppola of St. Peter’s Basilica. “It was nice to climb to the top to see the whole perspective of the building, especially what it may have looked like many years ago,” said Connor Caba, Gr. 12. In total, visitors must climb 551 steps to reach the top of the dome. Each step becomes progressively narrower as one reaches the top.
Faculty and students including Jonathan Fields and Jacob Savage, Gr. 10 and Sydney Mountain, Gr. 11 attended mass spoken in Italian at St. Peter’s Basilica. It was powerful for each to engage in an aspect so close to our school community in the most holy of places. We saw the statue of St. Francis, who we pray to during each chapel, within the walls of the basilica along with many other Saints and past Popes. Guiseppe Scala, Gr. 10 discovered old graffiti dating back to 1671 etched into the marble of some I the statues. While we don’t encourage defacing works of art, it was amazing for each of us to see ordinary peoples who left their literal mark even before the United States of America fought for its revolution.
See the full photo album here.
Convent & Stuart Hall Travel 