Want the Sistine Chapel All to Yourself? A Travel Company Is Pricing Private Tours at $5,558 Per Person

On any given day, as many as 30,000
tourists—six million a year—line up to see the Sistine Chapel at
the Vatican Museums. The average visitor will
be herded through packed hallways before entering the space
alongside as many as 2,000 other souls who are also straining to
get a glimpse Michelangelo’s famous ceiling frescoes and
monumental The Last Judgment.

But that’s not the only way. A new offer from True Luxury Travel allows true
Michelangelo fans to tour the site alone at the crack of dawn with
an art historian as a private guide. But this exclusive experience
does not come cheap. It will run you a cool $5,558—per person.

Starting at 6 a.m., the tour begins with the arrival of the
Vatican’s official clavigero, or key keeper.
His daily ritual is to unlock the museum’s 300 doors each
morning with his ring of antique iron keys. As you follow him
through the facility, you’ll visit the Vatican’s Raphael Rooms, the
Room of the Immaculate Conception, the Pio Clemtino Museum, the
Geographical Map rooms, and other highlights.

Finally, you’ll reach the Sistine Chapel, still in darkness
until the key keeper turns on the lights (special LEDs installed in
recent years that don’t emit UV rays or cause the paintings to
fade). To take in this marvel of Renaissance art and architecture
in near-complete solitude is a pleasure historically available to
just a select few.

Completed in 1512, the Sistine Chapel is home to the work of
such Renaissance greats as Pietro Perugino, Sandro Botticelli, and
Domenico Ghirlandaio, in addition to the famed Michelangelo
frescoes. Preserving these historic
works is a massive challenge, requiring a special HVAC system
that keeps the temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide
percentages at safe levels despite the constant crush of
visitors.

As the museum prepares to open for the day, having already
checked one of the Eternal City’s most famous sites off their list,
guests on the private tour are treated to breakfast in the museum’s
cafe.

You can also book an early morning visit directly with the
Vatican, which began offering this exclusive access last April,
according to Lonely Planet. The
True Luxury Travel itinerary adds a full day’s worth of activities
in the Vatican after breakfast, including a three-course lunch and
a tour of Saint Peter’s Basilica. But cutting them out as the
middle man will save you a lot. The Vatican charges a flat fee of
€3,500 ($3,830) for the early access and €170 ($186) for the
tour guide, plus €21 ($23) each for museum entrance and
€17 ($18.60) per person for breakfast.

The post Want the Sistine Chapel All to Yourself? A Travel
Company Is Pricing Private Tours at $5,558 Per Person appeared
first on artnet News.