Portal:Vatican City

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Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano; Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae), is a landlocked country, city-state, microstate, and enclave surrounded by, and historically a part of, Rome, Italy. It became independent from Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, and is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See, which is itself a sovereign entity under international law, maintaining the city-state's temporal power, governance, diplomatic, and spiritual independence. The Vatican is also a metonym for the pope, the Holy See, and the Roman Curia.

With an area of 49 hectares (121 acres) and a population of about 882 (as of 2024), it is the smallest sovereign state in the world both by area and by population. It is also among the least populated capitals in the world. As governed by the Holy See, Vatican City State is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the Pope, who is the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various origins. After the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377) the popes have mainly resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere. (Full article...)

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The Lateran Palace (Italian: Palazzo Laterano), formally the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran (Italian: Palazzo Apostolico Lateranense), is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main Papal residence.

Adjacent to the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, the cathedral church of Rome, the Lateran Palace is now occupied by the Museo Storico Vaticano which illustrates the history of the Papal States. The Lateran Palaces also houses the offices of the Vicariate of Rome, as well as the residential apartments of the Cardinal Vicar, the Pope's delegate for the daily administration of the Diocese of Rome. Until 1970, the palace was also home to the important collections of the Lateran Museum, now dispersed among other parts of the Vatican Museums.

From the fourth century, the Palace of the Lateran on Piazza San Giovanni in southeast Rome was the principal residence of the Popes, and continued so for about a thousand years.

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Vatican during the Savoyard Era 1870-1929 describes the relation of the Vatican to Italy, after 1870, which marked the end of the Papal State and 1929, when the papacy regained autonomy in the Lateran Treaty.

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The following are images from various Vatican City-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A view of the Gardens of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 2Territory of Vatican City State according to the Lateran Treaty (from Vatican City)
Image 3An early interpretation of the relative locations of the circus, and the medieval and current Basilicas of St. Peter (from Vatican City)
Image 4One possible modern interpretation (from Vatican City)
Image 5The Ingresso di Sant'Anna, an entrance to Vatican City from Italy (from Vatican City)
Image 6Pope Francis in Vatican City, 2021 (from Vatican City)
Image 7The Italian peninsula in 1796. The Papal States in central Italy are coloured purple. (from Vatican City)
Image 8The shortest national railway system in the world (from Vatican City)
Image 9The Vatican's post office was established on 11 February 1929. (from Vatican City)
Image 10The Fountain of the Eagle "Fontana dell'Aquilone" in the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 11Enlargeable, detailed map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 12Vatican Museums' "New Wing", built by Raffaele Stern (1774–1820) (from Vatican City)
Image 13Pay phone in the Vatican City (from Vatican City)
Image 14Members of the Canadian Royal 22nd Regiment in audience with Pope Pius XII, following the 1944 Liberation of Rome. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 15View of St. Peter's Square from the top of Michelangelo's dome (from Vatican City)
Image 16Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 17An ATM in Vatican City with Latin instructions (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 18The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Vatican City)
Image 19Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 20The Seal of Vatican City. Note the use of the Italian language. (from Vatican City)
Image 21The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Crime in Vatican City)
Image 22Empress Saint Helena of Constantinople carrying the One True Cross laying the grounds for the gardens using the sacred soil from Mount Calvary. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 23Pope Pius XI decree and conferment of Saint Therese of France to be Patroness of the gardens, flanked by Cardinal Louis Billot. The Leonine walls, 17 May 1927. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 24St. Peter's Basilica is one of the most renowned works of Renaissance architecture. (from Vatican City)
Image 25President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama meet with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on July 10, 2009. (from Women in Vatican City)
Image 26Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Vatican City)
Image 27Part of the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 28Image of the United Nations member state borders on a map (from Vatican City)
Image 29Musicians of the British Army's 38th (Irish) Brigade playing in front of St. Peter's Basilica in June 1944 (from Vatican City)
Image 30Bernardino Nogara, the chief Vatican financier during the war (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 31A monument to Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, among the estimated 3,000 members (18%) of the Polish clergy who were killed by the Nazis; of these, 1,992 died in concentration camps. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 32A guard of the Vatican at his sentry box (from Vatican City)
Image 33Map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 34Cesare Orsenigo (left, with Hitler and Ribbentrop), nuncio to Germany, also served as de facto nuncio to Poland. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 35Polish ambassador to the Vatican, Kazimierz Papée, was critical of Pius XII's pre-war mediation efforts. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 36Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 37Map of Vatican City, highlighting notable buildings and the Vatican gardens (from Vatican City)
Image 38Gendarmerie car (from Vatican City)
Image 39Armenian cross monument (Khatchkar) inside the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 40The Vatican obelisk in St. Peter's Square was brought to Rome from Egypt by Caligula. (from Vatican City)
Image 41The Vatican City came into existence in 1929, a decade before the start of World War II (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 42The Apostolic Palace (Palazzo Apostolico), the official residence of the Pope. Here, Benedict XVI is at the window marked by a maroon banner hanging from the windowsill at centre. (from Vatican City)
Image 43A souvenir shop on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica (from Economy of Vatican City)

Did you know?

... that Sans's boss theme, "Megalovania", was played at the Vatican as part of a circus act during an audience with Pope Francis?
... that Karl Malte von Heinz designed the Vatican, Pakistani, Yugoslav and Thai diplomatic missions in India?
... that one incident in Vatican City caused it to have the highest murder rate in the world in 1998?
... that the Second Vatican Council tried to undo the latinization of Eastern Catholic liturgy?
... that Antiqua et nova is a Vatican document that expresses serious ethical concerns surrounding the usage of artificial intelligence?
... that a Vatican Hebrew manuscript has been used as a source for analysing and emending modern editions of the Palestinian Talmud?

... that Bishop Aloisius Muench, the liaison between the Vatican and the U.S. post-war occupation authority in Germany, referred to the latter as "other Hitlers in disguise"?

...that Pope Pius XII's retention of Cesare Orsenigo (pictured left, with Hitler and von Ribbentrop) as Apostolic Nuncio to Germany is a "chief point of criticism" of his response to the Holocaust?