VATICAN CITY STATE
Many visitors coming to Rome have the idea that the Vatican is a city, with streets, shops, houses, etc. , many of them don’t even know that the Vatican is a State. The big question is : what is the Vatican city State?
The Vatican https://roma-bella.com/tours/vatican-city/
- The Vatican is a sovereign country
- The Vaticanhttps://roma-bella.com/tours/vatican-city/ is the smallest country in the world
- The Vatican is not a city, but a territory of 109 acres, the equivalent of 1/8 of Central Park in New York, closed by a wall built in the XVI century
- The population of the Vatican is of 453 people, but only 246 are citizens, amongst them the 104 Swiss guards.
- The Vatican citizens instead are 618. Of them 372 of are dwelling in Italy or other countries.
Why such a particular State?
Everything started in the year 1870 when the Pope Pius IX lost the power of Rome, that was part of the Pontifical State. The Pontifical State was a territory occupying the central part of Italy where the Pope had the political and religious power. On September of 1870 Rome was occupied by the “bersaglieri”: soldiers of the King Victor Emanuel II, and proclaimed Rome Capital of the Reign of Italy. The Pope Pius IX self-exiled in his palace, the Vatican.
In 1929 Italy was a Reign ruled by the dictator Benito Mussolini who had imposed a dictatorship. After several meetings with the Pope Pius XI he announced to the world that the Vatican territory would be recognized as a sovereign country. This territory included St. Peter’s Basilica, St. Peter’s square, the Sistine Chapel, the large Museum created since the 1506 and the Papal palace.
