Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo painted the ceiling standing up, not on his back — and cardinals still elect the pope in this room.
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One room holds three masterworks: Michelangelo's nine Genesis scenes on the vault (1508–1512), his Last Judgment across the altar wall (1535–1541), and the Moses-and-Christ wall cycles painted below by Botticelli, Perugino, Ghirlandaio and Rosselli in 1481–82.
What to look for
- In the Last Judgment, Michelangelo painted his own face onto the flayed skin held by Saint Bartholomew.
- The side walls most people skip: the Life of Moses facing the Life of Christ, by Botticelli, Perugino and Ghirlandaio.
- The carved marble transenna screen by Mino da Fiesole, Andrea Bregno and Giovanni Dalmata, and the patterned opus alexandrinum floor underfoot.
Still an active papal chapel and the venue for conclaves, so access can pause for religious use.
Sistine Chapel is one of 40 sights worth the detour in Rome, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Rome pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Rome
- Vatican CityThe world's smallest sovereign state fits in 44 hectares — you cross its border by stepping over a white line.
- ColosseumAround 50,000 Romans packed this stone oval to watch spectacles staged over a two-level warren of cages beneath the arena floor.
- St. Peter's BasilicaThe world's largest church, built directly over the grave believed to hold St. Peter's bones.
- PantheonA 1,900-year-old concrete dome with a hole punched in the top — when it rains in Rome, it rains inside too.
- Stadio OlimpicoOne 70,634-seat bowl, two cross-town tenants: AS Roma and SS Lazio both play here.
- Roman ForumThe valley where Rome held elections, tried criminals, and paraded victorious generals down the Via Sacra.