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 Fundamental Law of Vatican City State, promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 26 November 2000, is the Supreme Law of the Vatican. It obtained the Force of Law of 22 February 2001, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Apostle, and replaced in its entirety law N. I (the Fundamental Law of Vatican City of 7 June 1929). All the norms in force in Vatican City State which were not in agreement with the new Law were abrogated and the original of the Fundamental Law, bearing the Seal of Vatican City State, was deposited in the Archive of the Laws of Vatican City State and the corresponding text was published in the Supplement to the Acta Apostolicae Sedis^[1]. The law consists of 20 Articles.

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The Vatican Observatory (Specola Vaticana) is an astronomical research and educational institution supported by the Holy See. Originally based in the Roman College of Rome, it now has headquarters and laboratory at the summer residence of the Pope in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, and an observatory at the Mount Graham International Observatory in the United States.^[2]

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

Image 1One possible modern interpretation (from Vatican City)
Image 2The Vatican obelisk in St. Peter's Square was brought to Rome from Egypt by Caligula. (from Vatican City)
Image 3President 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 4Gendarmerie car (from Vatican City)
Image 5Map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 6Enlargeable, detailed map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 7The shortest national railway system in the world (from Vatican City)
Image 8The 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 9View of St. Peter's Square from the top of Michelangelo's dome (from Vatican City)
Image 10Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 11A guard of the Vatican at his sentry box (from Vatican City)
Image 12Members 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 13Pope 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 14Part of the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 15Image of the United Nations member state borders on a map (from Vatican City)
Image 16Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 17The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Crime in Vatican City)
Image 18The Seal of Vatican City. Note the use of the Italian language. (from Vatican City)
Image 19A 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 20Map of Vatican City, highlighting notable buildings and the Vatican gardens (from Vatican City)
Image 21The Vatican's post office was established on 11 February 1929. (from Vatican City)
Image 22Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Vatican City)
Image 23Armenian cross monument (Khatchkar) inside the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 24The Ingresso di Sant'Anna, an entrance to Vatican City from Italy (from Vatican City)
Image 25Vatican Museums' "New Wing", built by Raffaele Stern (1774–1820) (from Vatican City)
Image 26The Fountain of the Eagle "Fontana dell'Aquilone" in the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 27St. Peter's Basilica is one of the most renowned works of Renaissance architecture. (from Vatican City)
Image 28Bernardino Nogara, the chief Vatican financier during the war (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 29A souvenir shop on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 30Empress 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 31An early interpretation of the relative locations of the circus, and the medieval and current Basilicas of St. Peter (from Vatican City)
Image 32Cesare 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 33Territory of Vatican City State according to the Lateran Treaty (from Vatican City)
Image 34An ATM in Vatican City with Latin instructions (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 35The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Vatican City)
Image 36Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 37Pope Francis in Vatican City, 2021 (from Vatican City)
Image 38The Italian peninsula in 1796. The Papal States in central Italy are coloured purple. (from Vatican City)
Image 39The Vatican City came into existence in 1929, a decade before the start of World War II (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 40Pay phone in the Vatican City (from Vatican City)
Image 41A view of the Gardens of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 42Musicians of the British Army's 38th (Irish) Brigade playing in front of St. Peter's Basilica in June 1944 (from Vatican City)
Image 43Polish ambassador to the Vatican, Kazimierz Papée, was critical of Pius XII's pre-war mediation efforts. (from Vatican City during World War II)

Did you know?

... that a Vatican Hebrew manuscript has been used as a source for analysing and emending modern editions of the Palestinian Talmud?
... that the Second Vatican Council tried to undo the latinization of Eastern Catholic liturgy?
... that Karl Malte von Heinz designed the Vatican, Pakistani, Yugoslav and Thai diplomatic missions in India?
... that the final silent film directed by Giulia Cassini Rizzotto was partly funded by the Vatican and featured Italian aristocrats?
... that sport in Vatican City has included cricket, calcio fiorentino, and taekwondo?
... that one incident in Vatican City caused it to have the highest murder rate in the world in 1998?

... 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 capital punishment in the Vatican City was legal (but not carried out) between 1929 and 1969?

...that Clemente Micara was the Vatican’s first envoy to Czechoslovakia?

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Vatican Palace: the gardens from the museum.

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External Resources

Homepage of The Vatican

Sources

^ Fundamental Law, paragraph second form last
^ Johnson, George (2009-06-22). "Vatican's Celestial Eye, Seeking Not Angels but Data". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-06-24.

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[1] Fundamental Law, paragraph second form last

[nytimes-2] Johnson, George (2009-06-22). "Vatican's Celestial Eye, Seeking Not Angels but Data". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-06-24.

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