Vatican City

Understand

The Vatican City is the temporal seat of the Pope, head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Situated within the city of Rome, the Vatican is the world's smallest sovereign state. You may also hear the term Holy See (Italian: Santa Sede; Latin: Sancta Sedes), which is used to refer to the Diocese of Rome—that is, the ecclesiastical and administrative authority of the Pope, rather than the sovereign governmental entity that is the Vatican City State. Whenever a Pope dies or resigns, a new Pope is elected by the Papal Conclave, which is comprised of a group of senior clergy known as cardinals. The election takes place inside the Sistine Chapel, whose doors are locked during the proceedings. The ballot papers are burnt after each round of voting, with black smoke coming from the Sistine Chapel chimney indicating that the previous round of voting was inconclusive and white smoke indicating that a new Pope has been chosen. After changing into his Papal vestments, the new Pope is then presented to the public from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.

History Vatican City is all that remains of the Papal States, the former temporal land holdings of the Pope. Over the years, this territory varied considerably in extent, and may be traced back to AD 756 with the "Donation of Pepin". However, the popes had been the de facto rulers of Rome and the surrounding province since the fall of the Roman Empire and the retreat of Byzantine power in Italy. Popes in their secular role ruled portions of the Italian peninsula for more than a thousand years until the mid 19th century, when many of the Papal States were seized by the newly united Kingdom of Italy. In 1870, the Pope's holdings were further circumscribed when Rome was annexed. Disputes between a series of "prisoner" Popes

See

There is a lot of artwork to see in Vatican City.

St. Peter's Basilica

1 St. Peter's Basilica (Basilica di San Pietro). Apr-Sep: 07:00-19:00, Oct-Mar: 07:00-18:00. Closed on Wednesday mornings for papal audiences and may be closed for other occasions.. The centre of the Catholic world, this magnificent basilica with its Michelangelo-designed dome has an awe-inspiring interior. This place is huge, but everything is in such proportion that the scale escapes you. However, contrary to popular belief, it is not the Pope's cathedral; that honour lies with the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in San Giovanni. Free. (updated Aug 2022) Construction of the basilica began in 1506 and it was not completed until the end of 1626. Thus it spans two architectural periods. The overall design by Bramante and Michelangelo is Late Renaissance but the façade designed by Maderno and the interior, which owes much to Bernini, are both Baroque in style. The interior is lavishly decorated and contains a large number of tombs of popes and others. There are also several sculptures in side chapels, including Michelangelo's Pietà. A queue to enter may be long, but it moves quickly. All visitors pass through metal detectors and bags are screened. Visitors in very short shorts and skirts, and sleeveless tops, are offered a cover just before the entry. Photos are allowed to be taken inside, but not with a flash. Visits to the basilica are still possible while Mass is in progress.

The dome, which dominates Vatican City, has a total height of 136.57 m (448 ft) from the floor of the basilica to the top of the external cross. It is the tallest dome in the world. Its internal diameter is 41.47 m (136 ft), slightly smaller than the Pantheon and the cathedral at Florence. Most of the final design was b

Do

While guidebooks do their best to provide an aid for viewing the collections inside the Vatican, a guided tour is a far better way to make sure you get the most out of your visit.

Vatican tours Guided tours are provided by the Vatican itself for the cost of €30. These may be requested in advance by fax from one month to one week before the requested tour date, or online from two months before the requested tour date. The Vatican is notorious for failing to reply via fax, and repeat requests are often necessary. T

Getting there

Although the Vatican City is an independent country, it does not issue visas or residency permits to visitors; it has open borders with Italy. Since Italy is a part of the Schengen area, its common visa policy applies.

By foot There are three road entrances to Vatican City: from Via della Stazione Vaticana, Via Paolo VI and Borgo Pio. The entrance from Borgo Pio leads to the Vatican Museum, and the other two entrances lead to St. Peter's Basilica.

By bus There are several bus stations near the Vatican City. For the St. Peter's Basilica and Square, the #64 bus goes from central Rome right to the southern end of the Vatican, but it is filled with pickpockets so guard your valuables! From western Rome, the #46 bus also goes to St. Peter's Basilica and Square. For the Vatican Museums, the #49 bus goes from western Rome to the northern end of Vatican City. The gate to the Vatican Museums is carved on the wall right beside the bus station.

By metro Take the metro to 1 Cipro A for the museums, and 2 Ottaviano A for St. Peter's. To go from Cipro to the museums, go east through Via Candia and then turn right at Via Santamaura. To go from Ottaviano to St. Peter's, go south through Via Ottaviano. A fun trip is to take the tram to Piazza del Risorgimento. Tour touts are often seen near Ottaviano station, and some may falsely claim that St. Peter's Basilica is closed (see Common scams#Attraction closed).

By train Roma San Pietro station is just south of the Vatican's borders. The Vatican has its own train station, however, there are no regular scheduled passenger services. Historically, it has been used by the Pope for special travel on Italian rail or to send off papal remains.

By plane There is a heliport that is only used by the Pope. The closest airport is th

Getting around

On foot With an area of 49 hectares (120 acres) and a population of about 1,000 residents, the Vatican is small enough to be explored on foot. You can easily cover the Vatican in 30-60 minutes this way.

By car It's a little-known fact that the Vatican issues vehicle registration plates. Visitors (including Italian citizens) are not allowed to drive around the Vatican without permission from the Vatican authorities. Unless you're here for something incredibly important (e.g. the Pope wants to meet you personally, you are here on diplomatic business, you're an Italian policeman and you've been asked to patrol St. Peter's Basilica) it's highly unlikely that you'll be given permission to drive around. In any case, you don't need to drive around to fully take in the beauty of the Vatican; the country's road network is small and limited. Some streets of Borgo and most streets in Prati have one way traffic. Parking in the streets is available, but it will be difficult to find a free place. Big parkings are located SE of St. Peter's Square and under Piazza Cavour.