BIT 2013: participation of Vatican Museums confirmed

		For the fourth consecutive year the Pope's Museums have confirmed their presence at the International Tourism Exchange (BIT), which will take place in Milan from 14 to 17 February. The BIT is the largest exhibition in the tourism sector in Italy and is at the forefront of trade fairs in the industry worldwide, offering a complete round up of the best in international tourism.
This annual appointment is eagerly awaited by professionals in the field and by private travellers who wish to be the first to get to know the range of tourist destinations throughout the world. Visitors interested in the Vatican's museum and cultural services and publishing activity will be welcomed at an elegant and visually striking customised stand, where they will be received with competence and professionalism by the Vatican Museums Reception and Bookshop staff.

The Vatican Museums at the World Travel Market

		The participation of the Vatican Museums in the World Travel Market has been confirmed again this year. This important European fair dedicated to world tourism will take place in London from 5 to 8 November 2012. The event offers professionals in the sector the opportunity to meet, to network, to negotiate and to find out about the principal market tendencies. Located in an area of over 42,000 square metres, the 33rd edition of the World Travel Market will host over 5,000 companies within the field. Almost 46,000 professionals belonging to the tourism sector will take part in the fair, representing 187 countries and regions.
The Vatican Museums will be present with a large-scale stand (EM1940) with, as a unique canopy, a perfect reproduction of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Seminars and conferences will be held with the participation of experts and industrial exponents within the sector. On 6 November the fair will host the summit of the UNWTO Ministries "Open Borders and Open Skies: Breaking barriers to travel". The debate will focus on the impact of air transport policies and entry procedures on demand for tourism and employment within the countries concerned. For further information: World Travel Market

The Vatican Museums at the Frankfurt Book Fair

Again this year the Vatican Museums confirm their participation in the Frankfurter Buchmesse, which as now reached its 64^th edition.

For five days, from 10 to 14 October, the International Book Fair in Frankfurt will host 7,000 exhibitors from 120 different countries, with New Zealand as the guest of honour.

At the show, which sees the highest level of participation on the part of professional bodies, publishing in the Vatican will be represented by Edizioni Musei Vaticani who, to mark the occasion, will present both their most recent publications and their upcoming editorial projects.

For further information: www.buchmesse.de

New biennal partnerships between the Vatican Museums and three leading tour operators

		In 2011 the Vatican Museums have achieved a record of 5 million visitors, a result that has classified the Museums in 5th place among the most frequented artistic and culture sites worldwide. In order to receive such an influx of visitors while providing an ever more efficient and effective service, investing resources in welcoming the public is a strategic necessity. Awareness of this need has led to the emergence of a partnership between the Pope's Museum and three tourist agencies, leaders in the sector - Dark Rome Ltd., Carrani Tours by Escursioni Italiane and Trafalgar Tours Ltd. - who have decided to finance the creation of new offices within the museum complex which will accommodate all the staff who serve visitors, bringing great benefits in terms of quality.
		A synergy which will enable improvements in the experience of visiting the Museums, the partners will all make contributions in their own areas of excellence. In particular, the tour operators involved will allow direct dialogue with the most keenly-felt needs of tourists; this is a field in perpetual evolution, which has a constant need for new and concrete solutions. Thanks to the contribution of Dark Rome Ltd., Carrani Tours by Escursioni Italiane and Trafalgar Tours Ltd., the Vatican Museums will be able to take a new step ahead in providing visitors with a unique experience of visiting its treasures of art and faith. For more information on new partnership project, please contact: musei@scv.va.

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Free Entry for European Heritage Days

Again this year the Vatican Museums have confirmed, in accordance with a by now established tradition, its adhesion to the European Heritage Days 2012 initiative, with the usual free entry on 30 September 2012, the final Sunday of the month (from 9.00-12.30).

This event, which is promoted by the Council of Europe and has now reached its 26^th edition, currently involves the participation of 50 European states.

The overall theme chosen by the Holy See for the year 2012 is: "Images of Faith in European Heritage".

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Free entry for World Tourism Day

The doors of the Vatican Museums will be open on Thursday 27 September, on the occasion of World Tourism Day. Visitors will enjoy free entry to the Papal Galleries during the usual opening hours of 9.00-18.00 (last entry at 16.00).

Promoted by the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), World Tourism Day is celebrated worldwide every 27 September. The theme chosen for the 2012 Session, "Tourism and Energetic Sustainibility: powering sustainable development", is consistent with the current "International Year of Sustainable Energy for All" promulgated by the United Nations, with the aim of bringing to the fore "the need, to ensure sustainable development, of better acess to energetic services and sources of reliable energy at a reasonable cost, economically valid, socially aceptable and ecologically rational".

The Holy See has participated in the initiative of World Tourism Day since its first session, considering it an opportunity for dialogue with civil society, offering its concrete support, based on the Gospel, and regarding it also as an occasion to raise awareness throughout the Church of the importance of this sector at economic and social levels, and particularly in the context of the New Evangelisation.

TripAdvisor awards the excellence of the Vatican Museums

TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2012 awarded to the Vatican Museums.
This important acknowledgment by the most important travel website recognises the attainment of the highest score that can be given by users of TripAdvisor with regard to the quality offered by the Pope's Museums in the various services offered, with particular reference to the Guided Tours.

"To be awarded five stars by TripAdvisor gives us great pride and special satisfaction", commented Professor Paolucci, Director of the Vatican Museums. "Serving five million tourists a year (the number of visitors to the Vatican Museums in 2012) is a challenging task. To do so while ensuring that those five million visitors are also happy is almost a miracle. Yet it is this (the widespread and almost unanimous customer satisfaction in relation to the Pope's Museums) that has attained us the Certificate of Excellence issued by TripAdvisor".

The "Newspaper of the Holy See" in the Vatican Museums since March

A new exhibition space, entirely dedicated to the Vatican's daily, L'Osservatore Romano, is now available for visitors and guests of the Pope's Museums. A promotional discount of 25% is being offered to new readers who would like to take out a subscription to the paper on the spot; the same discount also holds good for the various editions of the paper: Italian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish. The new counter for L'Osservatore Romano has been hosted in the Bookshop of the Vatican Museums situated by the exit of the Lower Galleries since 27 February.

Presentation of the exhibition catalogue "Lo splendore della Verità, la bellezza della Carità"

The volume "Lo splendore della Verità, la bellezza della Carità". Omaggio degli artisti a Benedetto XVI per il 60° di Sacerdozio", published by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana, will be presented in Rome, Saturday 18 February, at 4.00 pm.
Edited by Micol Forti and Pasquale Iacobone, the catalogue is intended to document the important exhibition that inspired it; namely the exhibition of the same name held in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican last summer (4 July - September 2011).
The book presentation, held in the Sala S. Caterina, in Piazza Minerva 42, will be introduced by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council of Culture. Brief addresses by Don Giuseppe Costa, Director of the Libreria Editrice Vaticana, and Prof. Antonio Paolucci, Director of the Vatican Museums, will follow. The curator of the Collection of Contemporary Art in the Vatican Museums Micol Forti will then chair a discussion in which four well-known exponents of different fields of art will intervene: the musician and composer Arvo Pärt, the architect Santiago Calatrava, the artist Jannis Kounellis and the writer and screenwriter Vincenzo Cerami, who will all speak of the new dialogue being developed between the Church and Artists.
The exhibition, promoted by the Pontifical Council of Culture to mark the 60^th anniversary of the Priesthood of Benedict XVI, represented a significant stage in the dialogue between the Church and the arts, and permitted a huge public to admire 60 works created by 60 different artists of international fame active in different fields of art: painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, literature, cinema, music and goldsmith's work.

Invitation to the Presentation

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The Vatican Museums at the Milan BIT

For the third consecutive year, from 16 to 19 February the Museums of the Pope are participating at the International Trade Fair in Milan. BIT is the largest exhibition in the world for the Italian tourist product, alongside other comprehensive pre-eminent international representations.

Mexican Christmas comes to the Vatican Museums

"The spirit" of Mexican Christmas returns to the Vatican Museums for the second year running. So, from 12 December, the Museums will once again host a crib and Christmas tree typical of the decorative and handicraft tradition of the Mexican state of Puebla.
A photographic exhibition, "Navidad Mexicana en el Vaticano. Puebla", will also be inaugurated to mark the occasion: thirty photos dedicated to the people and artistic beauties of this historic town and its area.

Late opening time of the Vatican Museums

On Wednesday, November 16, the Vatican Museums will be open to the public at 9.30 a.m.

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Vatican Museums at the World Travel Market 2011

The participation of the Vatican Museums at the World Travel Market has been confirmed for the second year running: the important European showcase for world tourism is due to be held in London from 7 to 10 November.
The event represents a real opportunity for professionals in the sector to meet together, to update their skills and renew their offer. Seminars, conferences and debates are on the programme.
The WTM will host, on Tuesday 8 November, the summit of delegate ministers of UNWTO (World Tourism Organization) who will debate the development of tourism following the world crisis, as well as the role of emerging markets, the future of tourism in the Middle East and North Africa, and the importance of government action and tourist policies after the crisis. On the following day, under the auspices of the UNWTO, the World Day of Responsible Tourism will be held, during which the sustainable development of tourist destinations will be at the centre of the agenda.
This year too the "Museums of the Pope" will reconfirm with their presence at the WTM their commitment to a policy of hospitality based on professionalism, transparency and the centrality of the human person.

For further info: World Travel Market; World Responsible Tourism Day.

Sistine Chapel Closure

Thursday 20 October: last entrance to the Sistine Chapel at 5.00 p.m. (closure at 5.30 p.m.).

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The Vatican Museums at the 63^rd Frankfurt Book Fair

Once again the Vatican Museums will attend the Frankfurt Book Fair. The 63^rd edition of the Frankfurt Book Fair will open its doors Wednesday 12 October, to over 7500 exhibitors from 111 countries, with Island being the Guest of Honour this year.
Being the biggest event on the international publishing calendar, the Vatican will be represented by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana (Lev), as well as by Edizioni Musei Vaticani.
They will be presenting a preview of their latest publications, including the four volumes by Timothy Verdon: "Cappella Sistina. La parola di Dio in immagini umane" - an exceptional historical-artistic editorial project. Amongst this year' s novelties do not miss the inaugural show transmitted live on WebTv: www.buchmesse.de.

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Sistine Chapel Closure

Saturday 8 October: last entrance to the Sistine Chapel at 4.30 p.m. (closure at 5.00 p.m.).

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4 October, closed areas of the Museum:

Gregorian Profane Museum, Pio Christian Museum (with the Christian and Hebrew Lapidary), Missionary Ethnological Museum.

Pine Cone's Courtyard

Friday 30 September the Pine Cone's Courtyard (Cortile della Pigna) will be closed to the public for the entire day.

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Pinacoteca Courtyard

Thursday 29 September the Pinacoteca Courtyard will be closed to the public for the entire day.

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Picture Gallery, Room VIII closed

The Room VIII (Raphael) of the Picture Gallery will be closed the whole day on Wednesday 28 September.

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Free Admission on World Tourism Day

Open doors to the Vatican Museums, Tuesday 27 September 2011, on the occasion of the forthcoming World Tourism Day. Visitors can visit the Pontifical Galleries free of charge during the following hours: from 9.00- 18.00 hrs (last admission 16.00 hrs). World Tourism Day 2011 is commemorated under the theme "Tourism - Linking Cultures", an opportunity to highlight the role of tourism in bringing the cultures of the world together and in promoting global understanding through travel, especially considering that over nine hundred million people undertook journeys to other countries during 2010. Promoted by the United Nations' World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the World Tourism Day is celebrated worldwide every 27 September.
Tourism is a vital tool for breaking down cultural and linguistic barriers, offering an enormous opportunity to promote tolerance, respect and mutual understanding.

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Picture Gallery, Room VIII closed

23 September, the Room VIII (Raphael) of the Picture Gallery will be closed to visitors from 2.00 p.m.

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Pinacoteca Courtyard

The Pinacoteca Courtyard will be closed to visitors on Thursday 22 September at 2.00 p.m.

Egyptian Museum closure

From 29 August to 1 October 2011 the Gregorian Egyptian Museum is closed to the public for extraordinary repairs.

Tariffs 2012

For the third consecutive year, the 2012 admission fees to the Vatican Museums will remain unchanged.

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Closed areas of the Museum

Braccio Nuovo: closure from 12 to 23 July 2011.
Gregorian Egyptian Museum: early closure at 1.30 p.m. from 12 to 15 July 2011.

Sistine Chapel closure

On Thursday, April 28, on the occasion of the Beatification of John Paul II, the access to the Sistine Chapel will be possible till 10.00 p.m. (exit within 10.30 p.m.).

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Thursday, 14 April: closed areas of the Museum

Braccio Nuovo, Chiaramonti Museum, Pinacoteca, Pinacoteca Courtyard (from 13:00 p.m.), Gregorian Profane Museum and Pio Christian Museum.

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Braccio Nuovo and Chiaramonti Museum closed

On Wednesday, 13 April, the Braccio Nuovo and the Chiaramonti Museum will be closed the whole day.

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III Training Seminar for Teachers from the Italian Association of Art History Teachers - Vatican Museums

"Il Museo come Spazio di Formazione" (The Museum as an Educational Space) is the title of the III Training Seminar for Teachers, which takes place 11-12 April 2011 in the Vatican Museums. The two-day seminar is presented by the Director of the Vatican Museums, Professor Antonio Paolucci, together with Maria Maddalena Novelli (USR Lazio - Regional Scholastic Office) and Clara Rech (ANISA - Italian Association of Art History Teachers). Italian and foreign experts in museum didactics and pedagogy in art education participate actively during this seminar, jointly promoted by ANISA and the Vatican Museums. Contributions on the educational functions of the Museums are followed by those focused on the different potentialities of the museum areas. The main goal is to make teachers and didactic guides aware of the synergy between schools and the formal and informal learning areas, through a productive comparison of the instruments and contents of art education.

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"Le cento Fontane (99+1) del Vaticano" - (The One Hundred Fountains (99+1) of the Vatican)

On Wednesday 6 April 2011, the first of three volumes, "Le cento Fontane (99+1) del Vaticano - Fontane nei Viali e nel Bosco" (The One Hundred Fountains of the Vatican - Fountains along the Paths and in the Woods) will be presented in the Vatican Museums. This publication of 308 pages, edited by the Director of the Department of Technical Services, Eng. Pier Carlo Cuscianna, is enriched by pictures taken by the art photographer Francesca Pompei. During the presentation, there will be addresses, apart from that by the curator, by Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, Professor Antonio Paulucci and by the Architect Paolo Portoghesi.
The editorial project (Edizioni Città del Vaticano) was inspired by the creation of the hundredth fountain within the Vatican City territory, inaugurated on 5 July 2010 by the Pontiff and entitled, in his honour, San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph). In the "Fontane nei Viali e nel Bosco" (Fountains along the Paths and in the Woods) the first 30 fountains are described, as well as fountain number 100, dedicated to Saint Joseph (planning stage). The second volume, "Fontane nei Palazzi e nei Monumenti" (Fountains in the Palaces and Monuments) illustrates the fountains numbered 31 to 62, as well as fountain number 100, dedicated to Saint Joseph (production process). The last volume entitled, "Le Fontane nelle Piazze e nei Giardini" (Fountains in the Squares and Gardens), describes fountains numbered 62 to 99, including fountain number 100, dedicated to Saint Joseph (inauguration).

Late opening time of the Vatican Museums

On Wednesday, March 9, the Vatican Museums will be open to the public at 9:30 a.m.

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Picture Gallery closed

The Picture Gallery will be closed the whole day on Tuesday 1 March.

The Vatican Museums at the Milan BIT

For the second consecutive year, from 17 to 20 February the Museums of the Pope are participating with a stand at the International Trade Fair in Milan. The International Trade Fair is the largest exhibition in the world for the Italian tourist product, alongside other comprehensive pre-eminent international representations. This much awaited annual event for professional tour operators and for leisure travellers offers a preview of the best of Italian and of world tourism on offer.
The International Trade Fair is an important occasion for comparing current and future best practices in cultural tourism. The Fair represents a valuable opportunity for the Vatican Museums to account for itself as an entity, without intermediaries, and to transmit in personal and direct ways its own particular identity.

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Picture Gallery, Room VIII closed

4, 7 and 8 February, the Room VIII (Raphael) of the Picture Gallery will be closed to visitors from 3.00 to 6.00 p.m.

Picture Gallery, Room VIII closed

The Room VIII (Raphael) of the Picture Gallery will be closed from 26 to 28 January 2011.

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Sistine Chapel Closure

On Monday 10 January the Sistine Chapel will be closed to the public from 10.30 a.m. to 12.00 p.m.

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Sistine Chapel Closure

Saturday 8 January: last entrance to the Sistine Chapel at 12.30 p.m. (closure at 1.00 p.m.).

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Sistine Chapel Closure

Friday 7 January: last entrance to the Sistine Chapel at 3.30 p.m. (closure at 4.00 p.m.).

Early closing time of the Vatican Museums

Due to the Christmas festivities, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel will close at 15.30 hours 24 and 31 December 2010 (last admission at 13.30 hours).

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Late opening time of the Vatican Museums

On Wednesday, December 22, the Vatican Museums will be open to the public at 9.30 a.m.

Closed areas of the Museum

On Saturday 20 November 2010, for institutional reasons, the following areas are not accessible to visitors to the Vatican Museums: Braccio Nuovo, Chiaramonti Museum, Pinacoteca, Pinacoteca Courtyard.

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The "Vase Collection" of the Gregorian Etruscan Museum reopens

From Tuesday 23 November 2010, the Vase Collection of the Gregorian Etruscan Museum will reopen. After five years, the Rooms XIX, XX and XXI, now restored and reorganised, have reopened, enabling visitors to admire, in its integrity, one of the most famous collections of ancient painted vases.
The new arrangement of exhibits was overseen by Maurizio Sannibale, Director of the Gregorian Etruscan Museum. It is a collection which includes ancient ceramic masterpieces, generaly known to the public as they are replicated in illustrations for school and univesity books, and in studies and exhibition catalogues. During the museum restorations carried out in 1996, it would then have been ill-timed to have made changes to the collection. Now the new display can as intended enhance the Vase Collection, for it is one of the most emblematic sections of the Gregorian Etruscan Museum. First of all, new marble flooring, created with great taste and expertise by the Medici Firm, was laid. It reproduces a Roman pattern, reproportioned to the dimensions of the room, which was much in vogue in the eighteenth and at the beginning of the nineteenth century, already displayed in the Chiaramonto Gallery founded by Pius VII.
With regard to the arrangement, the old monotone and anonymous display system was removed, and glass shelves have been replaced by structures composed of various levels. The desired effect aims to present a global view, with points of interest, enabling the more specialised public to have the possibility of studying the objects in detail. The vases are displayed in chronological order, with careful classification of painters and of groups of ancient ceramics. Lastly, a few examples of the orginal elements previously displayed in the room, greatly transformed by the first restoration in 1920-1925, have been retrieved and are once again displayed.

The Vatican Museums at the World Travel Market

The Museums of the Pope are participating for the first time in the XXXI Fair for the World Travel Market taking place in London from the 8-11 November 2010. The World Travel Market, the most important European Fair dedicated to the travel industry, represents an international appointment of great importance for those professionally involved in tourism, and specifically for cultural and religious tourism. The Vatican Museums, "sanctuary of art and faith", are visited daily by thousands of visitors who represent humanity of diverse origins, traditions and convictions. "Many visitors" - as the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI affirmed - "are not Catholic, many are not even Christian and, perhaps, not even believers. Many visit only the Museums when visiting the Vatican State. This fact invites us to reflect on the extraordinary responsibility invested in such an institution such as the Church from the point of view of the Christian message".
Aware of the role that the Museums play on a world level in education and in raising awareness, interpreters of the highest calling dedicated to welcoming and hosting visitors, the Vatican Museums consider it to be their professional duty to be present on such occasions enabling a meeting, an encounter and networking with other important cultural and institutional players. The European Fair for the World Travel Market represents, therefore, a valuable opportunity for the Vatican Museums, in which to "account" for itself in first person, without intermediaries, and to transmit in a personal and direct way its own particular identity. "The Vatican Museums wish to speak to the whole world, as they represent the history, identity and destiny of the Catholic Church, which speaks to all people at all times", with these words the Director of the Vatican Museums, Professor Antonio Paolucci, underlines the unique opportunity that the World Travel Market offers to the Vatican Museums, identifying this international meeting as an occasion to develop and to enrich itself, professionally and humanly.

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The Vatican Musuems at the Frankfurt Book Fair

From the 6 - 10 October 2010 the Vatican Museums are participating in the 62^nd Frankfurt Book Fair, Frankfurt Buchmesse, the world's largest book fair. Some 6390 exhibitors are taking part from over 113 countries. The Stand of the Vatican City State is hosting the Vatican Museums, together with the Vatican Publishing House and the Vatican Apostolic Library. At the fair they are presenting their latest novelties. In fact, the Edizioni Musei Vaticani is offering a preview of their new publications, including the volume dedicated to the recently concluded restoration of the Room of the Immaculate and the Pauline Chapel.

World Day of Tourism

On the occasion of the forthcoming World Day of Tourism that will be celebrated on 27 September, the Vatican Museums will grant free admission into the Museums and Sistine Chapel during the normal opening times (9.00 - 18.00 last admission at 16.00). The World Day for Tourism (WTD) is celebrated worldwide every 27 September. This date was chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Statutes on 27 September 1970.
The theme of the 2010 World Tourism Day will be "Tourism and Biodiversity".

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Saint Athanasius head restoration

The Head of Saint Athanasius, by G. L. Bernini, exhibited in Room XVII of the Vatican Pinacoteca, is part of a series of preparatory models of bronze sculptures belonging to the Cathedra of Saint Peter.
This model may be dated back to between 1661 and 1663. It is made of a mix of clay and straw supported on a framework of iron rods. The model is of great documentary and artistic interest as it reveals the method used in creating a work of art.
The models by Bernini for the Cathedra of Saint Peter also include the head of St John Chrysostom - recently re-installed in the Pinacoteca after restoration - as well as figures of angels which are undergoing restoration at the moment.

In-depth research

Sistine Chapel

14 July 2010: last admittance into the Sistine Chapel at 13.00, closure at 14.00.

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Pinacoteca Courtyard

The Pinacoteca Courtyard will be closed to visitors on Thursday 1 July 2010 at 15.30 (visitors will be asked to leave the Courtyard by 16.00).

Picture Gallery, Room VIII

The Room VIII of the Picture Gallery will be closed to the public in the morning on 23 June 2010.

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Chiaramonti Museum closed

The Chiaramonti Museum will be closed the whole day on Friday 4 June 2010 for maintenance works.

Double spiral stairway

The Double spiral stairway (exit of the Museums) is temporarily closed from 8 am to 10 am (everyday except saturday) for cleaning works. For the visitors leaving the Museums the elevators on the floor will be available.

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27 May

Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel: last entrance at 3 p.m., closing time at 5 p.m.
Pinacoteca (Picture Gallery): closed from 4 p.m.
Pinacoteca Courtyard: closed the whole day.

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Braccio Nuovo (New Wing)

24 and 25 may closed to the public.

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Wednesday 5 May

Pinacoteca (Picture Gallery): closed from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Pinacoteca Courtyard: closed from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

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Monday 3 May

Pio Christian Museum: closed from 3 pm to 6 p.m.
Chiaramonti Museum: closed from 2 pm to 6 p.m.

Carriage Museum

The Carriage Museum is closed to the public for maintenance works.

Work in progress in front of the Vatican Museums

The Museums would like to apologize with all the visitors who reserved the tickets for any inconveniences caused during the access due to road works in front of the entrance made by the Rome Town Council.

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Necropolis of St. Rosa and of the Autoparco

Archaeological excavation work is in progress to unite two sections of the Vatican Necropolis along the Via Triumphalis. The Autoparco section (excavated in the 1950's) and the St. Rosa section (brought to light in 2003) recreate the characteristics of a pagan cemetery from the Imperial Rome, found beyond the walls of the city along the slopes of the Vatican Hill. The landscape was highlighted by tombs decorated with paintings, stuccos and mosaics, by sarcophagi, small altars and inscriptions driven into the ground.
Many of the objects found in the sepulchres, among which it is possible to distinguish elements that were part of the funereal set and objects used during the sepulchral religious practices, have survived intact to our days. Once the excavations have been completed, along with an appropriate itinerary, it will then be possible to visit areas now temporarily closed to the public.

Picture Gallery, Room VIII

16 february: Room VIII (Raphael) of the Picture Gallery open to the public only until 2 p.m. for maintenance works.

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Picture Gallery, Room VIII closed

The Room VIII (Raphael) of the Picture Gallery will be closed the whole day on Friday 12 February 2010 for maintenance works.

JOSP Fest

From 14 until 17 January the Vatican Museums have been present with a stand at the Josp Fest (Journeys of the Spirit Festival, II edition) that was held at the New Fiera di Roma (New Rome Fair Grounds).

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Sistine Chapel Closure

On Monday 11 January the Sistine Chapel will be closed to the public from 10.30 a.m. to 12.15 p.m.

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Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel Opening Hours

9 January: last entrance to the Sistine Chapel at 12.30 p.m. (closure at 1 p.m.).

Tariffs 2010

New admission tariffs to the Vatican Museums from 1° January 2010.

Details

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Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel Opening Hours

31 December: last entrance to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel at 1.30 p.m. (closure at 15.30 a.m.).

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Astrum

30 December: the exhibition "Astrum" opens to the public at 10.00 a.m.

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Vatican Museums Opening Hour

On Tuesday 22 December the Vatican Museums open to the public at 10.00 a.m.

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New Wing's Closure

On Thursday 10 December the New Wing (Braccio Nuovo) will be closed to the public for maintenance works.

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Sistine Chapel

On December 4 the Vatican Museums will be open to the public according to the normal opening hours. Admission into the Sistine Chapel will end at 12.30 (the Sistine will close at 13.00).

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1 December, opening of the Vatican Museums

Tuesday 1 December the Vatican Museums open to the public at 8.30 a.m.

Sistine Chapel

On Saturday 21 November the Vatican Museums will be open to the public according to the normal opening hours, accept for the Sistine Chapel which will remain closed for the entire day.

Public Lecture by Ivan Di Stefano Manzella

On the occasion of the Nighttime Opening of Friday 30 October Ivan Di Stefano Manzella, Professor of Roman Antinquities at the University of Tuscia (Viterbo), will give a public lecture on "Deities, emperors, people between extraordinary events and everyday life: evidences in the Lapidary Gallery".

Programme (only Italian)

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Public Lecture by Petro Beresh

On the occasion of the Nighttime Opening of Friday 23 October Petro Beresh, Assistant Curator of the Department of Byzantine-Medieval Art, will give a public lecture on "The meaning of icons through the Vatican Collections".

Programme (only Italian)

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Closure of the Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel will be closed from 15:45 until 16:30 on Saturday 17^th October.

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Public Lecture by Alessia Amenta

On the occasion of the Nighttime Opening of Friday 16 October Alessia Amenta, Curator of the Departiment of Egyptian Antiquities and the Near East, will give a public lecture on "The pharaohs at the court of the Popes".

Programme (only Italian)

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14 October 2009, Opening Hours of the Vatican Museums

Wednesday 14 October the Vatican Museums open to the public at 8.30 a.m.

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Public Lecture by Micol Forti

On the occasion of the Nighttime Opening of Friday 9 October Micol Forti, Curator of the Departiment of 19^th and 20^th Centuries Art, will give a public lecture on "Modern Art in the Vatican Museums" at 8 pm in the Picture Gallery Courtyard (Terrazze della Pinacoteca). The conference will be replied on screens afterwards.

Programme (only Italian)

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Necropolis of S. Rosa and of the Car Park

The Necropolis of the Via Triumphalis (Santa Rosa) and of the Car Park (Autoparco) are closed for excavations until some future date. Further information will be available on the web site www.vatican.va

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Public Lecture by Antonio Paolucci

On the occasion of the Nighttime Opening of Friday 2 October Antonio Paolucci will give a public lecture on "Beato Angelico and his Pope" at 8.00 pm in the New Wing (Braccio Nuovo). The Chapel of Nicholas V (Cappella Niccolina) will be open to the visitors. The conference will be replied on screens afterwards.

Pine Cone's Courtyard and Picture Gallery's Courtyard

Friday 18 September the Pine Cone's Courtyard (Cortile della Pigna) and the Picture Gallery's Courtyard are closed to the public from 12.30 a.m.

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Reopening of the New Wing (Braccio Nuovo)

From 15 September the New Wing is open again after the closure for the extraordinary repairs.

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New Wing (Braccio Nuovo)

From 7 to 12 September 2009 the New Wing is closed to the public for extraordinary repairs.

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Courtyard of the Picture Gallery (Pinacoteca)

From 1.00 pm of Friday 11 September until Saturday 12 September the Courtyard of the Picture Gallery wil be closed.

Pio Christian Museum and exhibition of "Saint Paul in the Vatican"

After the closure of 20 August 2009 for maintenance works, the Pio Christian Museum and the exhibition "Saint Paul in the Vatican" are open once again to the public from Friday 21 August.

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20 August 2009 - Closure of the Pio Christian Museum and exhibition of "Saint Paul in the Vatican"

On Thursday 20^th of August 2009, because of extraordinary maintenance, the Pio Christian Museum and the exhibition of "Saint Paul in the Vatican" will be closed for the entire day.

Picture Gallery (Pinacoteca)

After the partial opening until the 30^th of July the Picture Gallery is open with the usual visiting hours from the 31^st of July.

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13 July - 30 July 2009 - Partial Opening of the Picture Gallery (Pinacoteca)

From monday 13 July to thursday 30 July the Pinacoteca Vaticana (Picture Gallery) will be open on short-time for the routine maintenance on works of art. The Gallery could be closed with at short notice according to the works of maintenance.

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Friday 10 July 2009 - Closing of the Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel has been closed from 2.45 p.m. to 3.45 p.m.