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The Vatican Museums re-opened to the public on
Monday after being closed for nearly three months because of the
coronavirus lockdown.
The Museums, which house some of the world's greatest
Renaissance masterpieces as well as ancient Roman and Egyptian
artefacts, can now be visited only by making online reservations
in order to control the number of people attending at one time.
Visitors have their temperatures checked by remote thermal
scanners and have to wear masks.
Still, that was a small inconvenience in exchange for being one
of only about 25 people at a time on Monday in the Sistine
Chapel, with its famous ceiling and Last Judgement panel painted
by Michelangelo in the 16th century.
"The Vatican Museums are usually inaccessible because of the
huge crowds of tourists, particularly foreigners," said Marisa,
a Roman who declined to give her surname.
"We took advantage of the fact that there are not many tourists
to see the beauty that is in here, and it was very emotional,"
she said.
The Museums received some 7 million visitors last year and are
the Holy See's most reliable source of income, previously
generating an estimated $100 million annually.
That number probably will not be seen again for some time
because of the pandemic's effect on the travel and hotel
industries.
During the closure, art lovers could visit the Museums via
virtual tours online, but most would agree there's nothing like
the real thing.
"Of course a digital tour is important, but a real visit to the
real art works can never be substituted by a virtual tour of our
patrimony," said Barbara Jatta, the Museums' director.
(Writing by Philip Pullella; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
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