A breathtaking view from atop Saint Peter's Basilica. Kate took this while she was in Rome with her parents, about a week before we met up... I actually never got up to the top of the Dome. But this picture is amazing.

Piazza San Pietro, the famous square designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and built from 1656 to 1667. See more pictures....

The colossal baldacchino , the first work by Bernini to be commissioned for the basilica.   The baldacchino , or "canopy," stands over 29 meters tall and is constructed entirely in marble, bronze, and gilt. The canopy stands over the papal altar, and is so breathtaking that I couldn't stop staring at it.  It fits perfectly into the enormous apse of this monstrous cathedral.  See more pictures inside the Basilica

On the way to the Vatican Museum

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