Porsche has worked out a deal with Pope Francis to rent out the Sistine Chapel for the entertainment of 40 high-paying guests.
Located in Vatican City, the famous Sistine Chapel will serve as a backdrop for a concert and dinner this Saturday. The event will be part of a week-long tour of Rome, organized by the Porsche Travel Club for a very exclusive group of visitors.
This is the first time anyone has leased out the Sistine Chapel for corporate purposes. The earnings are set to go to various charities working with the poor and homeless, though the Vatican hasn’t disclosed how much it will earn from this. What we do know is that the tour costs 5,000 euros per person (or $7,200), which puts the overall price at about $290,000.
“It is an initiative which will support the Pope’s charity projects,” said Monsignor Paolo Nicolini, the administrative director of the Vatican Museums. “It is aimed at big companies which, through the payment of a fee, can contribute to charity activities.”
When Pope Francis was first elected last year, he called for a “poor church for the poor,” and this event is meant to be an extension of that mandate. Unlike the previous Popes, Francis has famously separated himself from the luxuries associated with typical church leaders.
What do the paying customers get? They get to enjoy “a magnificent concert in the Sistine Chapel, with its ceiling frescoes painted by Michelangelo.” Performed by a choir from the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the concert will precede a “gala dinner” amongst the Vatican Museums and “masterpieces by world-famous artists such as Michelangelo and Raphael.”
This is actually not the first time a concert has been held at the Sistine Chapel, but it’s been done so strictly for private church audiences.
