Vatican City, also known as Vatican City State, is a dwarf enclave state within the city of Rome, associated with Italy. The Vatican's status in international law is that of a subsidiary sovereign territory of the Holy See, the seat of the highest spiritual leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican is home to the residence of the Pope, as well as a number of historical and architectural monuments and museums, information about which I will provide you with below. We can say that the Vatican is one big museum that everyone who comes to Rome should visit. On this site you will find everything that will help you in this process.
The official name "Vatican City" was first used in the Lateran Treaty. It was signed in 1929 between the Holy See (Holy Diocese) and the Italian government, establishing the status of the modern city-state. This name was taken from the Vatican Hill on which the state is located. The very name of Vatican Hill comes from the Etruscan city “Vaticum”, which no longer exists. According to legend, Etruscan prophets (later Roman augurs) voiced their prophecies - “Vatinations”. Historically, before the emergence of the Vatican State, the word “Vatican City” meant “Palace of the Pope.” The official name of the Vatican is translated from Italian as the Vatican State.
The Vatican is a theocratic state. The sovereign of the Holy See (diocese), in whose hands the absolute legislative, executive and judicial powers are concentrated, is the Pope, elected by the cardinals. A dad is a dad for the rest of his life. The executive branch is headed by the Secretary of State of the Holy See. The Vatican is governed by an administrative body - the papal commission, appointed by the Holy See and headed by the governor for a period of 5 years. The Order is guarded by the Papal Guard, consisting of Swiss Guards (about 100 soldiers).
The population of the Vatican is about 1000 people.
The Vatican has its own flag and coat of arms, which depicts the keys of St. Peter and the Pope's tiara.
The Vatican has its own telephone service, post office, railway station, radio station Radio Vaticano, a special garbage collection service and a printing house where the legislative gazette, daily newspaper and annual directory.
The official languages of the Vatican are Italian and Latin.
The currency of the Vatican is the euro.
The Vatican does not pay taxes. Sources of income are donations from Catholics around the world and tourism (sale of postage stamps and souvenirs, funds for visiting museums).
This is what a map of the Vatican looks like:
The Vatican has many attractions. Therefore, if you come to Rome for several days, set aside one day to visit the Vatican.
Let's start with St. Peter's Square - a majestic and world-famous square in the center of the Vatican, where many believers gather to hear the Pope.
The area is limited on both sides by a colonnade of columns. It was built according to the design of Lorenzo Bernini in the XVII century. The square is decorated with an ancient obelisk brought from Egypt in 40 AD. Its height is 25 meters. Entrance to the square is free at any time.
The main attraction of St. Peter's Square is St. Peter's Basilica - one of the largest Christian churches in the world. The basilica was built over several centuries. Talented masters participated in its creation: Bramante, Bernini, Michelangelo, Raphael and others. The temple can accommodate 60 thousand people.
Climbing to the dome of the basilica, you will have a wonderful view of the city.
More about St. Peter's Basilica =>>
The next attraction is the Vatican Palace, or Papal Palace - the official residence of the Pope.
This is a large-scale architectural ensemble of palaces, halls and galleries of different eras and styles, connected by passages and corridors. Tourists can see only one part of it.
The Belvedere Palace is an important monument of the Renaissance - it is part of the architectural complex of the Vatican palaces and includes halls, galleries and courtyards where famous sculptures and masterpieces of art are located.
In the courtyard of the Belvedere Palace, in the so-called “Pineevsky Courtyard”, there is a statue of a pine cone. Made in I-II centuries.
In the lower part of the cone there are bas-reliefs depicting Roman athletes, and on the left and right - peacocks. There are three common versions of the meaning of the cone. Firstly, the cone is a symbol of the source of life. In Christianity, pine is the tree of life, and the cone is a symbol of resurrection and immortality; The second is a cone - a symbol of the pineal gland (epiphysis); The third one - a cone - is a symbol of a person’s “third eye”, which is connected with his spiritual world.
In the same courtyard you will also see a rotating golden sphere with a diameter of 4 meters, in which a small sphere is placed. This monument was created in 1990 by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro.
According to the author, the large sphere is the world, the small one is the earth. With this, he wanted to show the negativity of modern ecology that humanity brings to the environment.
The Pius Clement Museum is located in the square courtyard of the Belvedere Palace. This name is associated with two Popes - Pius VI and Clement XIV, who made a great contribution to the creation of this museum.
In each corner of the courtyard there are niches with copies of the ancient famous statues of Apollo, Laocoon, Perseus and Hermes. This is what “Laocoon and His Children” looks like:
The museum has several halls. This is the hall of animals:
Sculpture gallery:
Rotunda Hall (round), in the center of which there is a large red porphyry vase taken from the “Golden House” of Emperor Nero; here is the statue of Hercules.
Gallery of geographical maps:
Gallery of tapestries (based on paintings by Raphael):
In this gallery you will see the tapestry “The Resurrection of Jesus”:
One of the connecting elements of the Belvedere and the Papal Palace is the Bramante Staircase. There are two such stairs. The first, original one, was created by the architect Donate Bramante in 1505.
This staircase is practically inaccessible to the general public. To see it, only special tours are organized.
In 1932, Giuseppe Momo created a kind of copy.
It gives the impression of moving along it - as if you are moving along an escalator. At the top of the stairs there is a glass dome:
There are eight museums in the Vatican. I will highlight some of them. Gregorian-Etruscan Museum (consists of 22 halls):
Gregorian-Egyptian Museum (consists of 9 halls):
Vatican Library. Its vaults contain up to two million books, engravings, coins, ancient manuscripts, texts and maps.
Vatican Pinacoteca, where paintings of XII-XIX centuries, masterpieces of Caravaggio, Raphael, Giotto, Perugino, Titian and others:
The Sistine Chapel was built in 1473–1481 by the architect Giorgio de Dolci, commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV . Cardinals gather here to elect a new Pope. The chapel is painted with frescoes by Michelangelo, Botticelli, Rodelli and Perugino.
More about the Sistine Chapel =>>
Separately worth mentioning is the halls and loggias of Raphael. Four halls and an open gallery overlooking the eternal city are painted with frescoes by Raphael Santi and his students, in which you will see historical and biblical scenes.
The Borgia Apartments were made at the end of the XV century as the personal chambers of Pope Alexander VI. The apartment includes five rooms painted by Pinturocchio, a treasury and the pontiff's bedroom.
The Vatican Gardens deserve special mention. There are many unique plant species, as well as flower beds, statues and fountains.
The artificial cave “Grota di Lourdes” is located in the Vatican Gardens. It was created in 1902. There is a copy of the Virgin Mary statue in the cave.
Finally, the Wall of Leonin, built in 848–852 as a defensive wall. Its height is 12 meters and its length is up to 3 kilometers. It surrounds the Vatican and the Borgo area and separates the Vatican from Rome. The San Pellegrino Door is the main entrance for organized excursions.
This is an incomplete list of attractions that can be seen in the Vatican.
The Vatican Museums are open from Monday to Saturday from 09:00 to 18:00.
The museums are closed on Sundays, except the last Sunday of each month, when they are open from 09:00 to 14:00, admission is free for everyone. Museums are closed on holidays, in particular, January 1 and 6, March 19, April 2, May 1, June 29, August 14 and 15, November 1, December 8, 25, 26.
Ticket price:
- standard ticket for entrance to the Vatican Museums - 17 euros;
- the same ticket when booking online for skip-the-line entry - 21 euros;
- discounted ticket (for children 6-17 years old, students under 25 years old, clergy and seminary students) - 8 euros;
- the same ticket for free entry when booking online - 12 euros.
How to get there:
- by metro line A - stop Ottaviano;
- by bus №11, 23, 32, 81, 590, 982 - stop Risorgimento; №64, 40 - express routes from Termini station (Termini) to the cathedral; №116 - stop Terminal Gianicolo;
- by tram №19 - stop San Pietro.
Detailed and up-to-date information can be found on the official website of the Vatican Museums: www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html.
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