From Wikitravel

Vatican City (Citta del Vaticano), also incorrectly known as but popularly synonymous with the Holy See (Santa Sede) , is the last Papal state in existence and the temporal seat of the Pope, head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Situated within the city of Rome in Italy, the Vatican is the world's smallest state. Outside the Vatican City itself, 13 buildings in Rome and Castel Gandolfo, the Pope's summer residence, also enjoy extraterritorial rights. On April 19, 2005, Josef Cardinal Ratzinger was elected as Pope Benedict XVI.

Contents 1 Understand 1.1 History 1.2 Terrain 1.3 Population 2 Get in 3 Get around 4 Talk 5 Buy 6 See 6.1 St Peter's Basilica 6.2 St. Peter's Piazza 6.3 The Vatican Museum 7 Do 8 Eat and Drink 9 Sleep 10 Contact 11 Get out

Understand

History

The origin of the Papal States, which over the years have varied considerably in extent, may be traced back to AD 756 with the Donation of Pepin. However the popes were the de facto rulers of Rome and the surrounding province since the fall of the Roman Empire and the retreat of Byzantine power in Italy. Popes in their secular role ruled portions of the Italian peninsula for more than a thousand years until the mid 19th century, when many of the Papal States were seized by the newly united Kingdom of Italy. In 1870, the pope's holdings were further circumscribed when Rome itself was annexed.

Disputes between a series of "prisoner" popes and Italy were resolved in 1929 by three Lateran Treaties, which established the independent state of Vatican City and granted Roman Catholicism special status in Italy. On 11 February 1929, three treaties were signed with Italy which, among other things, recognized the full sovereignty of the Vatican and established its territorial extent.

In 1984, a concordat between the Holy See and Italy modified certain of the earlier treaty provisions, including the primacy of Roman Catholicism as the Italian state religion.

The pope is elected for life by the College of Cardinals. When the election was last held (Tuesday, April 19, 2005. Benedict XVI), it attracted large crowds. Pope Benedict XVI's predcessor's Pope John Paul II's Inauguration Day (he was never crowned) of 22 October 1978 was also a major event.

Present concerns of the Holy See include interreligious dialogue and reconciliation, and the application of church doctrine in an era of rapid change and globalization. About 1 billion people worldwide profess the Catholic faith.

Terrain

The Vatican sits on a low hill between 19 m and 75 m above sea level. With a boundary only 3.2 km around, the enclosed land area is smaller than some shopping malls. However the buildings are far more historic and architecturally interesting.

Population

Although 900 people live within Vatican City, many dignitaries, priests, nuns, guards, and 3,000 lay workers live outside the Vatican.

Get in

Vatican City is accessed from the Italian capital city of Rome, by taxi, bus or by foot. Take the Metro line A to Cipro for the Museums, or Ottaviano for St. Peter's, or the tram to Piazza del Risogimento.

Get around

With a little more than 100 acres (less than half a square kilometer) within its walls, the Vatican is easily traveled by foot; however, most of this area is inaccessible to tourists. The most popular areas open to tourists are the Basilica of St. Peter and the Vatican Museums.

Talk

Latin — yes, the "dead" language studied by seminarians and nerdish high school students — is the official language of the Vatican City. But rest assured — or disappointed, if you're one of the aforementioned individuals — that it is used only for official purposes, and Italian is the actual native language of the city. German, English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese are also commonly spoken. The language of the Swiss Guards (who are the personal bodyguards of the pope) is German.

Buy

The Vatican has a unique, noncommercial economy that is supported financially by contributions (known as Peter's Pence) from Roman Catholics throughout the world. It also sells postage stamps, tourist mementos, and publications. Fees for admission to museums also go into church coffers.

The Euro is the official currency of the Vatican City. The Vatican Euro is the rarest in circulation among the European countries, so don't spend it! It is worth a lot more than its face value.

The Vatican is the only country in the world where ATM instructions are in Latin.

See

• Swiss Guards Corps (Corpo della Guardia Svizzera) Swiss Papal Guards are posted at entrances to the Vatican City to provide security and protect the Pope. They wear very colourful clothing, similar to the clothing of court jesters. Actually, the design is attributed to Michaelangelo or Raphael. The Pontifical Swiss Guards is also the smallest and oldest standing army in the world founded in 1506 by the warrior pope Julius II (the same pope who kick started the construction of this 'new' basilica and making Michaelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel). The origins of the Swiss guards, however, go much further. The popes, as well as a lot of European rulers, regularly imported Swiss mercenaries since the 1400's. Swiss mercenaries were a major export of Switzerland before they started making watches.

St Peter's Basilica

To get into the Basilica, you will first go through a metal detector. Don't be put off if there is a long line in front of the detectors, the whole thing moves quite quickly and smoothly. Entry to the basilica is refused to anyone not appropriately attired (i.e. no uncovered legs or shoulders).

This place is huge! But everything is in such proportion that the scale escapes you. To give you a comparison, you can fit the Statue of Liberty, statue and pedestal (height from ground of pedestal to torch: 93 m), underneath the dome (interior height of 120 m from floor to top of dome) with room to spare.

After you go through the detectors, you can chose to go straight into the Basilica (free) or climb to the very top for great views of the city. This costs €4 and is definitely worth it. During the climb and before reaching the very top, you will find yourself standing on the inside of the dome, looking down into the Basilica itself. Be warned that there are a lot of stairs so it is not for the faint at heart (literally) nor the claustrophobic as the very last section of the ascent is through a litte more than shoulder-width spiral staircase. Photography is permitted inside St. Peter's, though flash photography is frowned upon. The lack of light will probably cause your pictures not to turn out too well, so you may want to buy a few postcards to keep as souvenirs.

This is actually the second basilica to grace this spot. The original basilica made by Constantine was in such a bad condition that Pope Julius II decided to replace it with a new one. The replacement was originally designed to be a magnificent tomb to himself, unfortunately they couldn't build it fast enough before he died. The present basilica took two centuries to finish under the hands of such architects as Bramante, Rafael, Michaelangelo, Fontana, Maderno, Peruzzi, da Sangallo and Bernini.

Take a peek also at the less seen Vatican gardens behind St. Peter's Basilica while you're up there.

St. Peter's Piazza

The Piazza di San Pietro is actually an ellipse! There are two stones (one on each side of the square) between the obelisk and the fountains. If you step on either of these stones, the four columns on the colonnades merge into one. Neat illusion! The fountains were made by two different architects, Maderno and Bernini.

The obelisk in the middle of the the square was transported from Egypt to Rome in 37 A.D. by the Emperor Gaius Caligula to mark the spine of a circus eventually completed by the Emperor Nero. The so-called Circus of Nero was parallel to and to the south of the east-west axis of the current Basilica. It was in this circus that St. Peter was killed in the first official persecutions of Christians undertaken by Nero beginning in 64 A.D. and continuing until his death in 67 A.D. The original location of the obelisk is marked with a plaque located near the sacristy on the south side of the Basilica, where it remained until it was moved in 1586 A.D. by Pope Sixtus V to its present location.

During the Middle Ages, the bronze ball on top of the obelisk was believed to contain the ashes of Julius Caesar. When it was relocated, the present reliquary, the Chigi Star in honor of Pope Alexander VII, was added containing pieces of the True Cross. This is the only obelisk in Rome that never toppled since it was placed in ancient Rome and is the second largest Egyptian obelisk after the Lateran obelisk. This celebrated obelisk nearly shattered while it was being moved. Upon orders of the pope, no one was to speak a word otherwise he would be excommunicated. However, a sailor shouted to water the ropes to prevent them from burning. He was forgiven and in gratitude for saving the day, the palms for Palm Sunday still come from the sailor's home town of Bordighera. The moving of this obelisk was celebrated in engravings during its time to commemorate the Renaissance's recovery and mastery of ancient knowledge.

The Vatican Museum

The Vatican Museums are open daily, except Sundays - but they are open (with free entry) on the last Sunday of every month. Entry is €12 - which also gets you into the Sistine chapel. The museums open at 8am, and close at 1:30pm daily, and their reasonable restaurants (with good vegetarian options) stay open for another hour or so.

The museums are extensive, far more than you can see in a day. The Sistine chapel, with Michelangelo's famous ceiling fully deserves its excellent reputation. If you only see one classical art exhibition in Rome, this should be it. After all, it isn't going to go out on loan anywhere! If you're not convinced by the quality, just compare the work with the frescos in other rooms here.

If you go out into the courtyard of the Vatican Museums, go to the Court of the Pine Cone (hint: look for something that resembles a pine cone). This used to be an ancient Roman fountain and was placed in front of the 'old' St. Peter's until it was moved to its present location.

On the way to the Sistine Chapel, you'll pass through the fascinating Map room, with huge 15th century maps of Italy painted on both walls.

Also well worth a visit is the Etruscan collection, for a view of life in the region before the emergence of Rome as a power.

Do

Eat and Drink

The Vatican Museums have a reasonable cafeteria style restaurant, a bar, and a pizzeria, all of which are open during museum opening hours, and until about one hour after closing. See also Rome.

Sleep

Unless you count the Pope as a good friend (and he concurs), see Rome; there are many hotels in the immediate vicinity of the Vatican.

Contact

• Mail a letter - Since Vatican City is a separate country, it also has its own postal system, which is generally considered to be a bit more reliable than that of Italy. Send a postcard to your friends and it will be postmarked from Vatican City.

Get out

The Vatican City is surrounded by Rome, which has considerable attraction as a travel destination itself.

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