I originally intended for the History Blogs to contain local content only, but with recent events I thought it might be nice to examine the history of the Vatican City and how it became established in Rome.
The Vatican city is the smallest internationally recognised independent state in the world by both land mass and population. The area is approximately 110 hectares in size and the population is around 800 people. It is essentially a walled city within Rome and is a land locked sovereign city-state.
An important fact to remember about the Vatican City is that it is distinct from the "Holy See".
The Holy See is basically the central government of the Roman Catholic Church which is headed by the Pope and it has been in existence since the early Christian Times.
The Vatican City itself was only established in the 20th Century in 1929.
It was established with the signing of the Lateran Treaty which described the Vatican City as a new creation and not a vestige of the larger Papal States that had encompassed much of Italy. It was signed by Pietro Gasparri, Cardinal Secretary of State on behalf of Pope Pius XI and Benito Mussolini, Prime Minister on behalf of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.
The Vatican City is dominated by St Peters Square but other features include the Apostolic Palace, otherwise known as The Pope's Bachelor Pad :-)
The Vatican City has its own governing system, with the Pope as head of state, and there are legislative and judicial functions administered by clergy and other officials but the Pope may at anytime overrule anything.
The Vatican has its own economy and experiences surpluses and deficits, and it has its own bank and currency as well, including its very own ATM in Latin. Its currency is on par with the Italian Lira and it has also adopted the Euro.
It even has its own Railway station, hardly used by the Pope for travel however it is mostly used for freight. There is no airport of course but there does exist a helipad.
It has its own postal service, pharmacy, and a modern telephone system.
In World War II, whilst Germany occupied Rome, they did not occupy the Vatican City which considered itself as a neutral territory.
There is tonne of information online about the Vatican City and the Holy See and soon we should be seeing the Vatican represented at the Olympic games in Rio in Greco Roman Wrestling. This is of course entirely untrue. :-)
The Vatican City remains an intriguing and historical part of the world regardless of your beliefs as this panoramic view illustrates.
J G S
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