Italy: “Drunken Herds” Ruining Sistine Chapel?

By Larry Habegger and Laurie Weed | Permalink | No Comments | October 3rd, 2012 | Trackback

An article by one of Italy’s most respected writers sparked heated arguments with the Vatican over its responsibility to manage and protect the Sistine Chapel. Author Pietro Citati described the site of Michelangelo’s masterpiece as “overrun by drunken tourist herds,” and demanded limits on the massive number of visitors who stream through the chapel—an estimated 20,000 per day and 5 million per year. Not only do untamed hordes degrade the experience, Citati claims, they also generate enough heat and human pollution to destroy the famed frescoes. Vatican officials responded that limiting visitors would be unthinkable, since the chapel is a “place of prayer” that should remain open to all.

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