Vatican City [antikvár]

Introduction This book is not intended as a guide to the Vatican in the strict sense of the term. There are no minutely detailed descriptions of the artistic treasures, no listings of all the historical implications of each monument. The aim has been simply to keep company with the visitor, to provide notes which will serve later to revive the feelings and impressions experienced during his or her days in Rome. It occasionally happens that we are brought somewhere by a friend who knows a particular place well, can relate details about its history while at the same time communicating his love for what he's talking about. The result is a genuine spiritual impact with the reality of the place, a familiarity with the persons encountered, a sense of excitement generated by all tiie beauty contemplated. With our curiosity so keenly aroused, we are surprised by the web of historical coincidences and cultural cross-references that seemingly emanate from every stone. I hope these pages will be a bit like that friend. Only in this case, he is accompanying you into the mysterious "sacred island" that is the Vatican. Everything there is kept up admirably. Everything there—spanning nineteen centuries and yet enclosed within a few hundred meters—is connected to the same mission that brought Peter to Rome where he was martyred and buried on Vatican Hill. The "mystery" of the Vatican consists of the extraordinary rapport between this hill and the events of Jerusalem. It is a place imbued with spirituality, but not of the sort whereby cloistered monks silently contemplate the Kingdom of God in the hereafter. Rather, it is a spirituality well grounded in history, one that perpemates the mission Christ entrusted to Peter. Throughout history, much of humanity has looked—and looks now—toward this hill. Thanks to the Vatican, Rome has become heir to Jerusalem. "Whence Christ is Roman ", as Dante wrote with brilliant theological intuition. Incredibly, the secret of Rome's eternity is perched on this tiny strip of land. The hidden aspiration of the present volume is to transform—respectfully and tactfully, to be sure—^the tourist into a pilgrim. This is also because anyone who remains stubbornly closed to the superhuman message that emanates from these stones would have failed to grasp the meaning of the Vatican. "It's not earth, but a piece of the sky!," cried the Humanist scholar Emanuele Crisolora at the beginning of the fifteenth century. Being able to recall this phrase to those of the three million annual visitors who come to Rome and happen to choose this book as their companion is something deeply satisfying to the author. Our visit is organized in a logical progression which begins at the tomb of the apostle, passes through the basilica which houses it, ascends to the palaces from which the pope guides the Church, traverses the museums with their numerous masterpieces, covers the magnificent papal gardens and comes out again on the stunning piazza which was our point of departure. To the unity of place we've added unity of time. Starting at daybreak in the mysterious subterranean world of the Vatican's grottoes we will progress to early-morning prayers at the sanctuary. Mid-moming wfll be reserved for the incessant multiple activities of the pope. At noon we will bask in the sunlight of artistic masterpieces. A restfiil afternoon wUl be spent outdoors in the gardens of the tiny city-state, after which will foUow a thought-filled sunset in the incomparable piazza. INTRODUCTION 5