The Sistine Chapel: conclaves, tapestries, & more cool stories! A Premium Virtual Vatican Visit.

Enjoy a high-quality virtual visit to the treasures of the Vatican.  Rather than traveling thousands of miles, across seas and oceans only to walk thousands of steps to visit the high-traffic areas of the Vatican, now you can make that journey from the comfort of your home!  

Staying safe and staying home, you will enjoy a decade's worth of insights gleaned from leading pilgrims and patrons through the beauitful & compelling drama of sacred beauty. It is also a perfect opportunity to get some real *insider* information with a small group of online friends.

The theme of this virtual visit will focus on the Sistine Chapel, and give particular attention to why it was built, the people and ideas behind its commission, and all the things you have maybe not had the time to pay attention to before: the lateral walls, the tapestries of Raphael, the cosmateque floor, the music, and the conclave! And we will break open the history of these images by breaking open bottles of great Italian vino.

Yep, to keep things interesting, we are pairing our virtual visit with expert guidance from Giulia of Merumalia Wine Resort. She will select wines that accompany the insights into the lessons we will explore on our visit.  These are white wines that put the materials Raphael used on his palette onto your pallette.  Giulia will introduce the wine at the beginning of the event, and we encourage all our guests to sip away as we get into the visit.  Let the art & let the philosophy literally SINK IN with your delicious wine as we go about our hour-long visit.

At the end of our virtual visit and wine tasting, our small group of guests will have the opportunity to ask questions of both the scholar and the winemaker. 

This is not a boring Zoom; this is a highly-interactive and highly-produced virtual cultural experience.

All the virtual walks will take place online, of course.  To participate you will need a computer with a good (fast) internet connection, and Zoom downloaded onto your computer or device. We recommend  that you have WhatsApp installed and working, but this is not necessary. 

Once you register, all the log-in details, instructions, and directions will be sent to you via email. 

For making the most of the wine tasting, guests will receive an offer of purchasing our boutique impossible-to-get-outside-of-Italy wine, and have it shipped to their homes. We will also share with you tips for selecting your own wine at your local wine shop or Total Wine if that is your preference. It is important to note that the wine element is only optional; you will still get so much out of this journey together even if you don't sip vino along the way ;)

As a courtesy, if you plan to no longer participate in the virtual tour, we ask you to please provide us with a cancellation notice at least 24 hours before the event. We cannot guarantee refunds for cancellations made with less than 24 hours' notice, though we will endeavor to do our best !