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HEALTH

‘It was hellish’: Visitors slam ‘overcrowding’ at newly reopened Vatican Museums

Tour guides and visitors have accused the Vatican Museums of not following Covid-19 protocols, saying their visits were spoiled by overcrowding at the newly-reopened attraction on Saturday.

Published: 16 February 2021 15:04 CET
'It was hellish': Visitors slam 'overcrowding' at newly reopened Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums reopened this month after an almost three-month closure. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
While just a small number of visitors were able to enjoy the famed museum as it reopened on February 1st, by February 13th there were complaints of overcrowding at the site.
 
“There was no distancing, no organization, it was pure madness,” tour guide Vincenzo Spina wrote in a letter to the museum's management, which was reported in Italian newspaper La Repubblica after he shared it on social media.
 
“I led a small group inside the Vatican Museums. What I saw made me feel deeply ashamed,” said Spina. “It felt like a subway platform at rush hour, with families trying to turn back  other visitors yelling 'they kidnapped us'.”

Dozens of Italian visitors took to Tripadvisor to complain about scenes of “chaos” in parts of the museums on Saturday, saying crowding was especially bad in the Raphael Rooms.

One visitor wrote that there was an “absolute lack of compliance with the safety rules relating to Covid” during her visit on Saturday.

“People found themselves at various times in a sort of hellish circle, without the minimum distancing required by the regulations in force.”

Another said: “Lots of groups with guides were stuck in the halls… in this period it is an unacceptable organizational error.”

Museum staff were reportedly unable to control the crowds, and some responded to complants about overcrowding by telling visitors to “blame the 'upper floors'”, La Repubblica reported.

The museum's management had not responded to Spina's letter or media requests for comment on Tuesday, La Repubblica said.

Similar scenes of overcrowding were reported in Italian media last June, when museums reopened following Italy's first coronavirus lockdown.

People queue outside the Vatican Museums in June 2020. Photo: AFP

Italy's museums and art galleries were then closed again in November under renewed restrictions.

Museums are currently allowed to reopen from Monday to Friday in “yellow zone” areas under the country's colour-coded system of coronavirus rules.

The museums within the Vatican State however are allowed to open Monday to Saturday.

At the moment, people can only travel for tourism within their own region in Italy as domestic travel restrictions remain in place.

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TOURISM

‘Not even that ancient’: The harshest TripAdvisor comments about Italy’s sights

From Roman ruins to grand Gothic palaces, Italy’s most popular tourist attractions welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors every year – but not everyone leaves satisfied.

Published: 16 May 2024 09:47 CEST
'Not even that ancient': The harshest TripAdvisor comments about Italy's sights

With its rich cultural heritage and plenty of art and architecture wonders, Italy draws hundreds of thousands of visitors from all corners of the world every year. 

But a quick scroll through the review section of travel website TripAdvisor will be enough to show that some of the country’s most famous attractions aren’t to everyone’s taste.

Colosseum, Rome

It may be Italy’s biggest tourist attraction, but even the Colosseum – the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, dating back to 80 AD – fails to impress some.

“I came. I saw. I left,” wrote one reviewer, saying that looking at pictures of the building and reading about its history will spare you from “a long wait line, a port a john [sic] bathroom, and a big disappointment”.

READ ALSO: Nine tips for making the most of a Rome city break

Others were seemingly not so happy with the overall state of the attraction.

“[It] was a lot more broken than I thought it would be, at £15 a pop you’d think they’d invest in repairing it,” one wrote. 

“Not even got a roof? When they finishing it [sic]?” asked another. 

Milan, Duomo 

Though it is often regarded as one of, if not the greatest example of Italian Gothic architecture, not everyone seems to be impressed by Milan’s Duomo cathedral. 

“The outside is gaudy and tacky as the worst of Las Vegas,” while “the inside is as bad taste as the outside” and not worth the wait, “even if they paid you”, one reviewer wrote.

READ ALSO: Stay away! How Europe’s most popular spots are fighting overtourism

Another said the Duomo was no different than any “old cathedral” found in every European city, claiming that “pigeons watching [sic] is more exciting than this building”.

Speaking of pigeons, one tourist warned future visitors about the aggressiveness of the local bird population, saying that the area surrounding the Duomo is “swarming with thousands of pigeons that have long ago lost any fear of humans” and will “fly directly at your head”, forcing you to “take evasive action”.

Just another cathedral? The famed Duomo in Milan. Photo by Martin Anselmo on Unsplash

Doge’s Palace, Venice

Venice’s Palazzo Ducale is the third most-visited tourist attraction in the country and arguably one of the best-preserved traces of the ancient Venetian Republic’s power. 

But the palace isn’t everyone’s cup of tea – at least judging from its reviews.

“When you go inside, there’s nothing to see except a lot of paintings on the ceilings and high on the walls. The paintings are impressive but very samey,” one reviewer wrote.

READ ALSO: What’s the difference between Italy’s city taxes and new ‘tourist tax’?

“Really boring,” complained another, saying that the rooms were “bland” and “the view never got any better”. 

Other visitors said they were disappointed with some of their tour guides’ choices.

One wrote: “Our guide took pleasure in telling about people being tortured here. It was a bit grizzly [sic]. Personally I would give the place a miss.” 

Tourists sit under the archway of the Doge's Palace in Venice

The Doge’s Palace in Venice, which some visitors found abit “samey”. Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP

Pompeii 

Even the Pompeii archaeological site, which consists of the ruins of a city buried under volcanic ash following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, has its fair share of detractors.

A reviewer described the site as being “poorly paved street after poorly paved street of pretty much the same old same old terraced house over and over and over and over”.

Another said: “I really don’t get what the hype is about.

“It’s not even that ancient since they had to build so many structures around it to keep it standing. Even the freaking pillars didn’t make it (some barely did I guess).”

One reviewer even went as far as saying it was the “worst place” he’d ever visited, mentioning he had “too much ground to cover in sweltering heat” and he “should have stayed at the nice beaches of Vico Equense”. 

Trevi Fountain, Rome

A prime example of Italian Baroque aesthetics, the Trevi fountain is one of Rome’s most widely recognised symbols worldwide, but not all visitors are impressed by it.

“It splashes and splashes. It spurtles and flows. It fountains and gurgles and is as romantic as my oldest pairs of smelly socks,” wrote one reviewer, who concluded they felt “let down”.

Tourists around Rome's Trevi Fountain

Tourists around Rome’s Trevi Fountain in March 2024. Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP

That said, many reviewers expressed appreciation for the fountain’s architecture, but complained that their visit was ruined by hordes of fellow tourists. These complaints are far from unjustified given the attraction’s long-standing overcrowding issues. 

One reviewer suggested that “packing a pair of 8 foot stilts” may be the only way to “ensure a satisfying visit to the Trevi”.

Another called the attraction a “claustrophobia mecca” that’s “nearly impossible to deal with because of the thousands of pushy, sweaty, rude and large tourists”.

Have you seen a surprising review of an Italian landmark? Are there any Italian sights you think are overrated? Let us know in the comments section below.

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