Portal:Vatican City

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Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano; Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae), often shortened as the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state in Southern Europe. Ruled by the pope, it is an enclave within the city of Rome, Italy, and serves as the administrative centre of the Catholic Church. Vatican City is governed by the See of Rome, commonly known as the Holy See, itself a sovereign entity under international law, which maintains its temporal power, governance, diplomacy, and spiritual independence. Vatican is also used as a metonym for the Holy See, which is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City, comprising the pope and the Roman Curia. The independent state of Vatican City came into existence in 1929 via the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, which spoke of it as a creation, not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756–1870), which had previously encompassed much of Central Italy.

With an area of 44 hectares (109 acres) and a population of about 882 in 2024, it is the smallest sovereign state in the world both by area and by population. It is the only country in the world with a population of fewer than 1,000 people. It is 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. The Holy See dates to early Christianity and is the principal episcopal see of the Catholic Church, which in 2018 had about 1.329 billion baptized Catholics in the world, in the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. 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 coat of arms of the State of Vatican City is blazoned gules, two keys in saltire Or and argent, interlaced in the rings gules/Or, beneath a tiara argent, crowned Or. Thus it is simply the emblem of the Papacy (emblem of the Holy See) displayed on a red field with the positions of the gold and silver keys reversed.

The crossed keys of gold and silver symbolise the keys of the kingdom of heaven promised to Saint Peter, with authority to bind and loose (Matthew 16:18–19).
The triple crown (the tiara) represents "the three powers of the Supreme Pontiff: Sacred Orders, Jurisdiction and Magisterium",^[1] in other words: his functions as "supreme priest", "supreme pastor" and "supreme teacher".
The gold cross surmounting the triple crowns symbolizes the crucifixion of Jesus.

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Credit: Hannes Flo

Via della Conciliazione (Road of the Conciliation^[2]) is a street in the Rione of Borgo within Rome, Italy.

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

Image 1Empress 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 2An early interpretation of the relative locations of the circus, and the medieval and current Basilicas of St. Peter (from Vatican City)
Image 3The Ingresso di Sant'Anna, an entrance to Vatican City from Italy (from Vatican City)
Image 4Vatican Museums' "New Wing", built by Raffaele Stern (1774–1820) (from Vatican City)
Image 5A souvenir shop on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 6Torre San Giovanni, on an ancient wall originally built by Pope Nicholas III. The tower fell into disuse in the 16th century but was rebuilt in the early 1960s by Pope John XXIII. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 7Polish ambassador to the Vatican, Kazimierz Papée, was critical of Pius XII's pre-war mediation efforts. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 8A view of the Gardens of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 9Bernardino Nogara, the chief Vatican financier during the war (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 10A guard of the Vatican at his sentry box (from Vatican City)
Image 11A map of Vatican City, highlighting notable buildings and the Vatican gardens (from Vatican City)
Image 12Italian Garden (from Gardens of Vatican City)
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 14One possible modern interpretation (from Vatican City)
Image 15View of Vatican City in the evening (from Vatican City)
Image 16Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 17The Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Casina Pio IV (from Vatican City)
Image 18The Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Vatican City)
Image 19A view of St. Peter's Square from the top of Michelangelo's dome (from Vatican City)
Image 20The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets (from Vatican City)
Image 21Pope Leo XIV, 2025 (from Vatican City)
Image 22President 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 23A pay phone in the Vatican City (from Vatican City)
Image 24The 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 25The Fountain of the Eagle "Fontana dell'Aquilone" in the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 26St. Peter's Basilica is one of the most renowned works of Renaissance architecture (from Vatican City)
Image 27An ATM in Vatican City with Latin instructions (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 28Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 29The shortest national railway system in the world (from Vatican City)
Image 30Cesare 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 31Vatican City's post office was established in February 1929. (from Vatican City)
Image 32Armenian cross monument (Khatchkar) inside the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 33A map of the United Nations member states (from Vatican City)
Image 34The Vatican obelisk in St. Peter's Square was brought to Rome from Egypt by Caligula. (from Vatican City)
Image 35Part of the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 36A Vatican gendarmerie car (from Vatican City)
Image 37The basilica as seen from the gardens. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 38Members 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 39A 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 40The Loggia of the Casino of Pius IV, a Renaissance building located in the Vatican Gardens. The Casino of Pius IV was built in the mid-16th century by architect Pirro Ligorio for Pope Pius IV. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 41Enlargeable, detailed map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 42The territory of Vatican City State according to the Lateran Treaty (from Vatican City)
Image 43Map of the Italian peninsula in 1796, showing the Papal States in central Italy coloured purple (from Vatican City)
Image 44The Seal of Vatican City. Note the use of the Italian language (from Vatican City)
Image 45Map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 46Musicians of the British Army's 38th (Irish) Brigade playing in front of St. Peter's Basilica in June 1944 (from Vatican City)
Image 47The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Crime in Vatican City)
Image 48The Vatican City came into existence in 1929, a decade before the start of World War II (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 491€-Vatican_Franciscus-Revers (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 50Tourists try out a seat cut from a stump, said to have been the favorite relaxing spot of Pope John Paul II. (from Gardens of Vatican City)

Did you know?

... that one incident in Vatican City caused it to have the highest murder rate in the world in 1998?
... 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 sport in Vatican City has included cricket, calcio fiorentino, and taekwondo?
... that Vatican Taekwondo has no registered athletes or coaches?
... that the Vaticanese football team Rappresentativa OPBG played their first derby match against a team of nursing students?

... 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?

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

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Credit: Livert

A 360 panorama of Rome taken from the top of St Peter's Basilica.

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Homepage of The Vatican

Sources

↑ Coat of Arms of His Holiness Benedict XVI
↑ The name finally settled upon for the project was chosen by journalist Franco Franchi after World War II; Delli, Sergio (1975). Le strade di Roma. Rome: Newton & Compton. p. sub vocem.

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[1] Coat of Arms of His Holiness Benedict XVI

[2] The name finally settled upon for the project was chosen by journalist Franco Franchi after World War II; Delli, Sergio (1975). Le strade di Roma. Rome: Newton & Compton. p. sub vocem.

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