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 sovereign state and city-state. It is surrounded by Rome, the capital city of Italy, which it was historically a part of. It became independent from the Kingdom of Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty. It is governed by 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 pope, the Holy See, and the Roman Curia.

With an area of 49 hectares (121 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 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 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: Giovanni Paolo Panini

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri), officially known in Italian as Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City.

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

Image 1A map of the United Nations member states (from Vatican City)
Image 2The 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 3An early interpretation of the relative locations of the circus, and the medieval and current Basilicas of St. Peter (from Vatican City)
Image 4Polish ambassador to the Vatican, Kazimierz Papée, was critical of Pius XII's pre-war mediation efforts. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 5The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Vatican City)
Image 6A view of St. Peter's Square from the top of Michelangelo's dome (from Vatican City)
Image 7A guard of the Vatican at his sentry box (from Vatican City)
Image 8View of Vatican City in the evening. (from Vatican City)
Image 9Members 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 10One possible modern interpretation (from Vatican City)
Image 11St. Peter's Basilica is one of the most renowned works of Renaissance architecture. (from Vatican City)
Image 12Musicians of the British Army's 38th (Irish) Brigade playing in front of St. Peter's Basilica in June 1944 (from Vatican City)
Image 13The Vatican obelisk in St. Peter's Square was brought to Rome from Egypt by Caligula. (from Vatican City)
Image 14Pope Leo XIV as Cardinal Prevost, 2023 (from Vatican City)
Image 15The Ingresso di Sant'Anna, an entrance to Vatican City from Italy (from Vatican City)
Image 16The Italian peninsula in 1796. The Papal States in central Italy are coloured purple. (from Vatican City)
Image 17Vatican Museums' "New Wing", built by Raffaele Stern (1774–1820) (from Vatican City)
Image 18Part of the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of 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 20President 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 21The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Crime in Vatican City)
Image 22The shortest national railway system in the world (from Vatican City)
Image 23The Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Vatican City)
Image 24Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 25Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 26Italian Garden (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 27Cesare 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 28Armenian cross monument (Khatchkar) inside the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 29Bernardino Nogara, the chief Vatican financier during the war (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 30A Vatican gendarmerie car (from Vatican City)
Image 31A view of the Gardens of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 32Map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 33A map of Vatican City, highlighting notable buildings and the Vatican gardens (from Vatican City)
Image 34Pope 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 35A pay phone in the Vatican City (from Vatican City)
Image 36The Seal of Vatican City. Note the use of the Italian language. (from Vatican City)
Image 37Empress 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 38The Vatican City came into existence in 1929, a decade before the start of World War II (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 39The Vatican's post office was established in February 1929. (from Vatican City)
Image 40The Fountain of the Eagle "Fontana dell'Aquilone" in the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 41Enlargeable, detailed map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 42A souvenir shop on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 43The territory of Vatican City State according to the Lateran Treaty (from Vatican City)
Image 44An ATM in Vatican City with Latin instructions (from Economy of Vatican City)

Did you know?

... that Karl Malte von Heinz designed the Vatican, Pakistani, Yugoslav and Thai diplomatic missions in India?
... that Antiqua et nova is a Vatican document that expresses serious ethical concerns surrounding the usage of artificial intelligence?
... 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 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 a portion of the Palatine Library returned to Heidelberg in 1816, almost two centuries after it was looted from city by the Catholic League?"

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

... 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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