[1/4] Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, speaks to a reporter during the opening of a new exhibit of ceramic jars and other utensils used in a 17th century pharmacy that was once at the Benedictine monastery, at the Vatican, May 25, 2023. Jatta wants visitors to slow down and enjoy such... Read moreVATICAN CITY, May 30 (Reuters) - Barbara Jatta, the first woman to head the Vatican Museums, wants visitors to avoid being suffocated by the crowds and take in the lesser-known - but spectacular - attractions she helps to oversee. The Vatican Museums, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that closed or limited openings during the COVID-19 pandemic, have almost returned to their pre-pandemic level of about six million visitors a year. Many, particularly day trippers on fast-paced package tours of Rome, head straight for the Sistine Chapel, bypassing the museums' other wonders. She added that the museums, which close at 6 p.m. on most days, may extend opening hours.

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Persons: Barbara Jatta, Jatta, Read, Cecilia, Luca Pesante, Raphael, Pope Francis, Philip Pullella, Gerry Doyle, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Vatican, CITY, UNESCO, Heritage, Sistine, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Vatican, Rome, Rome's Trastevere