I visited the Vatican today for the first time. It’s impossible to grasp and comprehend it. One is overwhelmed after the very first room. It would probably take several months to see everything here. (Everything open to the public, that is, as the closed areas would likely take years.) Once seen, it would take an equal amount of time to understand and place all of it. And then double that amount to actually fully grasp, evaluate, and experience.
During my visit I ended up not even taking pictures, as nothing but direct proximity could possibly do justice to the utter fantastic magnificence of my surroundings. That and I didn’t want to waste precious seconds to fiddling with my camera. It felt like every single inch of every single object, from the buildings themselves to the most minor of artifacts, is a priceless, timeless work of art that must have taken hundreds of hours to produce. I knew quite a few of these buildings, paintings and sculptures from pictures and videos, yet none of that could possibly prepare me for being here in person.
In my travels I’ve seen many palaces, cathedrals, and museums, but the Vatican is in its own, separate category. Nothing else can possibly compare. Here it becomes abundantly clear why the Western civilization is superior to all others. It’s not because it is able to win wars, but because nobody else has created anything that would come even remotely close.
Before I came to Rome I was most excited to see the ancient Roman buildings and artifacts. They are indeed very impressive. It was the Vatican, however, that completely blew my mind. It is so comprehensively stunning, that it’s almost frightening. The scale and density is such that it creates this sense that if only one more drop of beauty is added, the whole thing will overload and collapse into a singularity.
I hope it didn’t ruin the rest of the world for me. Right now it feels as though only natural wonders might compare, while nothing else made by human hands could possibly live up to it.
Post edited May 03, 2018 by Alaric.us