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Welcome to the Vatican City Portal

Vatican City, 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 Holy See, and the Roman Curia.

With an area of 49 hectares (121 acres) and a population of about 764 (as of 2023), it is the smallest sovereign 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 Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the Vatican City State (Italian: Ufficio Filatelico e Numismatico) is responsible for issuing Vatican postal stamps and Vatican coins.

While Vatican stamps may only be used within the city of Rome, and the quantity of euro coins is limited by treaty with Italy (The total value of all coins minted in 2002 was restricted to €310,400),^[1] Vatican coins and stamps serve as an important sign of Vatican sovereignty, and their scarcity and design makes them popular with collectors.

Indeed, public interest in Vatican currency and stamps was considered sufficient to justify a Philatelic and Numismatic Museum (Il Museo Filatelico e Numismatico) which has been opened as part of the Vatican Museums in 2007.^[2] Two special stamps about the museum were issued at the museum opening.

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Credit: Rnt20

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

Did you know?

... that the final silent film directed by Giulia Cassini Rizzotto was partly funded by the Vatican and featured Italian aristocrats?
... that the Second Vatican Council tried to undo the latinization of Eastern Catholic liturgy?
... 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 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 sport in Vatican City has included cricket, calcio fiorentino, and taekwondo?

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

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Credit: MarcusObal

Five images of Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican stitched up to make this panorama.

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External Resources

Homepage of The Vatican

Sources

^ "Euro Vaticano". Sala Stampa della Santa Sede. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
^ The new Museum
^ 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.