Sistine Chapel
Cappella Sistina
The Vatican’s papal chapel, where the cardinals elect the pope, under Michelangelo’s ceiling and his Last Judgment.
Photo: Gary Todd, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Pope Sixtus IV had the chapel built between 1473 and 1481, and it carries his name. Botticelli, Perugino and other painters decorated its walls; between 1508 and 1512 Michelangelo painted the ceiling for Pope Julius II, with the Creation of Adam at its heart, and from 1536 to 1541 the Last Judgment on the altar wall.
It is still a working chapel, where the cardinals gather in a conclave to elect a new pope. It stands in the Vatican, west of the part of Rome the game maps, but you can still walk in. Visit it in 3D ›
Famous art here
More in Rome
ColosseumThe great amphitheatre of ancient Rome, opened in AD 80 for gladiator fights before some 50,000 people.
PantheonA temple to all the gods rebuilt under Hadrian, with the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world.
Trevi FountainRome’s grandest fountain, where a coin thrown over your shoulder means you will come back.
Piazza NavonaA long Baroque square on the outline of Domitian’s stadium, with Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers.
Roman ForumThe heart of ancient Rome: temples, basilicas and the Senate house, in a valley between the hills.
VittorianoThe huge white marble monument to Victor Emmanuel II on Piazza Venezia, nicknamed the typewriter.
Campo de’ FioriA lively square with a morning market and, in the middle, the hooded statue of Giordano Bruno.
Column of Marcus AureliusA marble column carved with the emperor’s wars along the Danube, standing on Piazza Colonna since the 2nd century.
Largo di Torre ArgentinaFour temples of the Republic sunk below the street, beside the spot where Julius Caesar was murdered.
VespaThe scooter that put post-war Italy on two wheels and rode through Roman Holiday.
NasoniThe little cast-iron drinking fountains on Rome’s street corners, running with fresh water all day.
SampietriniThe small black cobblestones of basalt that pave the streets of old Rome.
CarbonaraPasta with egg, guanciale, pecorino and black pepper: Rome’s own dish, with never a drop of cream.

