Through the 26th of October 2012, Rome's Vatican Museums will offer special limited-entrance evening hours on Fridays for both tourists and residents.
Continuing a popular though sporadic tradition, the Vatican Museums will welcome visitors on Friday evenings from 7.00pm to 11.00pm. Reservations for €19 tickets, which covers the €15 entrance and €4 booking fees, can be made online, with 9.30pm as the last available entrance time.
Home to 54 galleries containing the Sistine Chapel, Renaissance masterpieces by Rafael, Titian and da Vinci, and a comprehensive fresco and sculpture collection featuring the highlights of the last 2000 years of Italian art history, the Vatican museums receive more than 5 million visitors streaming through the crowded galleries each year.
According to L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican's semi-official mouthpiece, the evening openings are an invitation to Romans to "take back the museums, experiencing them and enjoying them in a special, serene atmosphere"—complete with classical music.
Music performances at 9.00pm each Friday by members of the Conservatory G. Verdi of Turin are included in the evening museum admission ticket. Due to limited space, however, performance seating must be reserved online.
On Friday the 14th of September, the Museums will feature a special music and dance performance of "Masterpieces of the 1900s".
