Portal:Vatican City

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Vatican City (/ˈvætɪkənˈsɪti/ ^ⓘ), officially the Vatican City State (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano; Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae), is a landlocked sovereign 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 city-state's and worldwide Catholic Church government Holy See, and Roman Curia. The country has the world's smallest land area and the smallest population, with 764 citizens as of 2023.

With an area of 49 hectares (121 acres) and as of 2023 a population of about 764, it is the smallest state in the world both by area and by population. It is also the second-least populated capital 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 Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, which is located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Sacred Palace, the Papal Palace and the Palace of the Vatican. The Vatican itself refers to the building as the Palace of Sixtus V in honor of Pope Sixtus V.^[1]

The palace is more accurately a series of self-contained buildings within the well-recognised outer structure which is arranged around the Courtyard of Sixtus V (Cortile di Sisto V). It is located North-East of St Peters Basilica and adjacent to the Bastion of Nicholas V and Palace of Gregory XIII.

Rather than a traditional palace (a residential building surrounded by support buildings) the Apostolic Palace houses both residential apartments and support offices of various functions as well as administrative offices not focused on the life and functions of the Pope himself.

The building contains the Papal Apartments, various government offices of the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy See, private and public chapels, Vatican Museums and the Vatican library, including the Borgia Apartment now used to house artworks.

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Credit: Владимир Шеляпин

The Gallery of Maps is a gallery located on the west side of the Belvedere Courtyard in the Vatican containing a series of painted topographical maps of Italy based on drawings by friar and geographer Ignazio Danti.

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

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

Did you know?

... that the Vatican selected Mary Milligan in 1987 to be one of only three U.S. experts to assist the International Synod of Bishops on the Laity in Rome?
... that a Vatican Hebrew manuscript has been used as a source for analysing and emending modern editions of the Palestinian Talmud?
... that some Catholics considered Tom Lehrer's "The Vatican Rag" (audio featured) to be blasphemous?
... that Sans's boss theme, "Megalovania", was played at the Vatican as part of a circus act during an audience with Pope Francis?
... that the Second Vatican Council tried to undo the latinization of Eastern Catholic liturgy?
... that sport in Vatican City has included cricket, calcio fiorentino, and taekwondo?

... 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 in the Vatican's Cortile del Belvedere Bramante created the first monumental formal garden design of the Renaissance?

... that Eugenio Pacelli's (future Pope Pius XII) 1936 visit was planned, in part, to investigate and silence Catholic priest and New Deal opponent Charles Coughlin?

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