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Welcome to the Vatican City Portal

Vatican City (/ˈvætɪkən/ ^ⓘ), 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 within Rome, Italy. It became independent from Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, and it is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See, itself a sovereign entity under international law, which maintains the city-state's temporal power and governance, diplomatic, and spiritual independence. The Vatican is also a metonym for the pope, the city-state's and worldwide Catholic Church government Holy See, and Roman Curia.

With an area of 49 hectares (121 acres) and as of 2023 a population of about 764, it is the smallest state in the world both by area and by population. 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: Rb85

The Vatican Observatory (Specola Vaticana) is an astronomical research and educational institution supported by the Holy See. Originally based in the Roman College of Rome, it now has headquarters and laboratory at the summer residence of the Pope in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, and an observatory at the Mount Graham International Observatory in the United States.^[2]

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

Image 1Part of the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 2A view of the Gardens of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 3President 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 4Armenian cross monument (Khatchkar) inside the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 5Enlargeable, detailed map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 6Bernardino Nogara, the chief Vatican financier during the war (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 7The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Crime in Vatican City)
Image 8Cesare 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 9Polish ambassador to the Vatican, Kazimierz Papée, was critical of Pius XII's pre-war mediation efforts. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 10Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 11Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 12Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 13Members 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 14An ATM in Vatican City with Latin instructions (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 15Empress 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 16A 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 17The Little Flower, Saint Therese of Lisieux is the official Patroness of the gardens. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 18Pasta is popular in the Vatican, being one of Pope Francis' favorite dishes. (from Culture of Vatican City)
Image 19The Vatican City came into existence in 1929, a decade before the start of World War II (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 20A souvenir shop on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 21The Fountain of the Eagle "Fontana dell'Aquilone" in the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 22Map of Vatican City (from Geography of 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 Sans's boss theme, "Megalovania", was played at the Vatican as part of a circus act during an audience with Pope Francis?
... that some Catholics considered Tom Lehrer's "The Vatican Rag" (audio featured) to be blasphemous?
... that a Vatican Hebrew manuscript has been used as a source for analysing and emending modern editions of the Palestinian Talmud?
... 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 the Second Vatican Council tried to undo the latinization of Eastern Catholic liturgy?

...that the 22 Bodmer Papyri from a fifth-century Egyptian monastic library near Nag Hammadi contain three plays by Menander and fragments of the Iliad, as well as early versions of the Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John?"