Great cultural significance

The Vatican City :

The Vatican City is the smallest independent sovereign state in the world with government, statutes and head of state of it's own.

Although it covers just a few acres of land, it holds within its boundaries the residence of the Pope, the site of St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel.

It was created in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756 to 1870). Vatican City is a non-hereditary, elected monarchy that is ruled by the Bishop of Rome ? the Pope. The highest state functionaries are all clergymen of the Catholic Church.

It is the sovereign territory of the Holy See (Latin: Sancta Sedes) and the location of the Apostolic Palace, the Pope's official residence, and the Roman Curia.

Thus, while the principal ecclesiastical seat (Cathedral) of the Pope as Bishop of Rome (the Basilica of St. John Lateran) is located outside of its walls, in Rome, Vatican City can be said to be the governmental capital of the Catholic Church.

The Vatican City, one of the European microstates, is situated on the Vatican Hill in the west-central part of Rome, several hundred metres west of the Tiber river. Its borders (3.2 km or 2 miles in total, all within Italy) closely follow the city wall constructed to protect the Pope from outside attack.

The situation is more complex at the famous St. Peter's Square in front of St. Peter's Basilica, where the correct border is just outside the ellipse formed by Bernini's colonnade, but where police jurisdiction has been entrusted to Italy. The Vatican City is the smallest sovereign state in the world at 0.44 square kilometres (108.7 acres).

The Vatican climate is the same as Rome's; a temperate, Mediterranean climate with mild, rainy winters from September to mid-May and hot, dry summers from May to August.

There are some local features, principally mists and dews, caused by the anomalous bulk of St. Peter's Basilica, the elevation, the fountains and the size of the large paved square.

The Vatican City is itself of great cultural significance. Buildings such as St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel are home to some of the most famous art in the world, which includes works by artists such as Botticelli, Bernini and Michelangelo.

The Vatican Library and the collections of the Vatican Museums are of the highest historical, scientific and cultural importance.

In 1984, the Vatican was added by UNESCO to the List of World Heritage Sites; it is the only one to consist of an entire country.

Furthermore, it is the only site to date registered with the UNESCO as a centre containing monuments in the "International Register of Cultural Property under Special Protection" according to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.

Saint Peter's Basilica Built in 1506 over St. Peter's tomb remains, Saint Peter's Basilica is the world largest Basilica. In 1547 Michelangelo took over and simplified Bramante's previous plan, increasing the scale.

At his death in 1954, one of Michelangelo's students, Giacomo della Porta, looked after the erection of the Dome following the master's design. Magnificent sculptures from Bernini, Michelangelo and many other great "Maestri" can be admired in the Basilica.

In the Basilica you can also visit the Treasury; the Vatican Grottoes and the Dome. Vatican museums

The Vatican Museums comprise the papal apartments of the medieval apostolic Palace, frescoed during the Renaissance, the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Apostolic Library, and the Museums themselves.

The first actual Museums (the Pio-Clementine Museum, the Gallery of the Candelabra, the Chiaramonti Museum and the Inscription Gallery), devoted to classical Greco-Roman statuary, were founded by the popes of the 18th and 19th centuries and later enlarged in the 18th Century, with the construction of new buildings inspired by the Roman Imperial architecture.

In the 19th century three other Museums were created by pope Gregory XVI

* The Etruscan Museum , which contains 18 rooms of Etruscan artifacts and Greek statuary

* The Egyptian Museum, cointaining statues brought from Egypt in the imperial age

* The Tapestry Gallery where tapestries by Raphael's school can be admired In the 20th century, the Vatican collection was rearranged in the Pinacoteca, a new building set aside for the purpose.

Later on, in 1973, three other collections were arranged in the same building:

* The Profane Gregorian Museum, containing classical statuary

* The Pio-Christian Museum, containing works from the excavation of catacombs

* The Missionary-Ethnological Museum, housing works from extra-European cultures Both the Sistine Chapel and the "Raphael's Rooms" are a 20-30 minute walk from the Museums' entrance. As they are very crowded you'd better arrive very early in the morning.

Courtesy Internet