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Know Vatican City better

Vatican – A Brief History

3.1

Vatican is a young nation (formed 1929) with an ancient history dating back to two millennia. Here TBO Academy shares the interesting tidbits of Vatican history with our esteemed agent partners.

Early History of Vatican:

During the times of Roman republic Vatican was referred to as a small hill and a plain on the west bank of river Tiber which was largely an uninhabited area due to its close proximity to the Etruscan city of Veil which was at war with Roman republic and the flooding from river Tiber that happened regularly. BY 33 AD, Agrippina the Elder had the marshy area drained and gardens laid. Her son Emperor Caligula built a circus for charioteers in this garden. The obelisk that today stands at St. Peter’s square was brought by Caligula from Egypt to decorate the circus however the circus was completed by Emperor Nero and it came to be known as Nero’s circus. The area became the site of martyrdom of many Christians including St. Peter. The first basilica was constructed by Emperor Constantine in 4th century AD known as Constantinian basilica of St. Peter which is believed to be the tomb of St. Peter. Later in 5th century AD a palace was built by Pope Symmachus.

Papal States:

Popes gradually became more powerful and governed regions near Rome covering a large portion of Italian peninsula as papal states for more than a thousand years until mid-19th century where all the papal territory was seized by the newly created kingdom of Italy besides confiscating church properties in many places including the Quirinal palace of pope by the King of Italy in 1871 which became a royal palace. Pope Pius IX the last ruler of the Papal States was referred to as a prisoner in the Vatican and this period of uncertainty between 1861 and 1929 the status of the pope was referred to as the ‘Roman Question’.

Vatican – A Brief History (Contd.)

History of Vatican Architecture

Vatican City has one of the world’s most striking religious architecture which was constructed over several centuries characterized by Roman, Baroque and Gothic styles. In terms of the Romanesque influence the Constantinian basilica was the predecessor of St. Peter’s Basilica reflecting the design based on vaults covering the space with a curved structure of stones with building as a dominant feature while artistic activities such as paintings and sculpture were in a subsidiary position. From the Roman Renaissance period mid-15th to mid-16th centuries the prime examples are the Vatican library, Sistine Chapel, Apostolic Palace, new St. Peter’s Basilica, Raphael’s rooms, Borgia apartments which are majestic, masculine, centralized composition, combination of city and square reflecting the genius of the architects who built these buildings. The Baroque architectural style predominant in 17th century showcased magnificence with mystical surrounding and always attempted to leading human’s ideals to the worship of Catholicism. It is best reflected in the exterior and interior decoration of St. Peter’s Basilica with large scale ceiling murals, illusory paint like illusory effects – a mixture of painting which combined sculpture, painting and architecture to create an illusion effect. The corridors of Vatican highlight the lighting, leading the dramatic visual distance effect. Architects and artists used a large amount of gold, silver and copper to embroider, decorated with pilasters. In the20th century modern architecture also contributed in the form of Government Palace which was constructed in eclectic architectural style between 1927 – 1931.

Lateran Treaty and the birth of Vatican City:

The negotiations for the settlement of the Roman question began in 1926 between the Italian government and the Holy See. This culminated into the Lateran treaty in 1929. It settled the ambiguity brought about by the period of Roman Question. The treaty established Vatican as an independent country granting 109 acres of land governed by the pope besides Italian government also gave financial compensation to the Roman Catholic Church for the loss of Papal State. Forced to give up political power the popes focused on spiritual issues. During World War II, Vatican stayed neutral while German forces occupied the city of Rome. Both Allied and Axis aircraft crews respected the Vatican’s neutrality when bombing Rome.

Know your Vatican better

3.2

The Vatican City is a world-famous religious site, serves as a seat of power for the Catholic Church, is home to the pope and offers truly breathtaking architecture and art. Here TBO Academy provides interesting insights to agent partners in giving a better understanding of Vatican City:

a. Vatican is uniquely the only sovereign country located within the city of Rome. It is also the smallest state (0.49 square miles) in the world by both area and population (799 citizens as of beginning 2022).

b. Vatican City is a hill surrounded by a wall. The wall makes Vatican City the only country in the world to have a wall around most of its territory.

c. Vatican is the only country to be entirely designated as the only UNESCO World Heritage country.

d. The Vatican was declared an independent state in 1929. The document stating its birth as a city-state is called ‘Patti Lateranensi – the Lateran treaty’ and carries the signatures of Pietro Gasparri – a Roman Catholic cardinal, diplomat and politician and Benito Mussolini – the then Duce of the Italian Socialist Republic.

e. Vatican City is also called the Holy See. Vatican City is the actual nation while the Holy See acts as the legal entity. While the popes come and go, the Holy See as a conceptual entity is eternal. Even in United Nations the Catholic Church is represented not as Vatican City but the Holy See.

f. St. Peter’s Basilica is the largest Catholic Church in the world, took 120 years to complete, is 400 feet tall and 138 feet in diameter. Construction began in 1506 and was completed in 1626. The basilica covers an area of 23000 square meters. Visitors can climb to the top of dome designed by the renowned renaissance architect, sculptor and painter Michelangelo will be rewarded with stunning views of the city and St. Peter’s square.

g. Vatican City has no official language. Italian is used for official communication, Swiss-German is used for commands with Swiss guards while other languages like French, Romansh, Polish and Spanish are also in use.

h. The citizens of Vatican City are called Vaticani.

i. Vatican has an impressive art collection. The Vatican museums covers 42’735 square meters making them the fifth largest museum in the world. The collection contains everything from ancient Egyptian mummies, religious art masterpieces by Van Gogh, Picasso, Michelangelo, Raphael and many more. Visitors can take in the full scope of this magnificent collection.

j. Visitors intending to catch a glimpse of the pope can visit the Vatican City on Wednesday mornings where he passes through St. Peter’s square and blesses the crowd. Alternately on Sundays at 12 noon the pope addresses the audience from the window of his apartments. Visitors intending to hear the pope on Sunday can head to St. Peter’s square half an hour early and line for security.

k. Under the 1929 Lateran treaty, Italy guaranteed to construct a railway station in Vatican which was officially opened in 1934. It is known as ‘Stazione Vaticana’ and is the only station of the Vatican railway and has been primarily used for freight operations and only since 2015 has a regularly scheduled weekly passenger service provided by the Vatican Museums and Italian railway every Saturday (In COVID times visitors intending to take the ride should check its operational status). The Vatican railway has two tracks but only one station and one platform making it the shortest railway service in the world. The Vatican has never employed any railway workers and all train carriages belong to the Italian railways.

l. The population of the Vatican City state is 100% catholic, the only country on earth to have the entire country belong to a single religion.

Know your Vatican better (Contd.)

m. The Vatican adapted Euro as its currency in 1999 making it the official currency of the Vatican City although it is not a member of EU. Vatican Euro coins are minted by IPZS in Rome, Italy and are issued by the philatelic and numismatic office of the Vatican City state and Vatican Euro coins are a legal tender in Italy and San Marino.

n. Vatican City has its own flag, national anthem, post office, telephone system, its own license plates and issues its own passports.

o. The national flag of Vatican was adopted upon signing of the Lateran treaty of 1929 and it consists of two vertical stripes of yellow color on the left, white on the right with the keys of St. Peter crossing each other and the Papal tiara above them.

p. Pope Julius II first hired Swiss guards in 1506 known for their strength and legendary loyalty for his personal protection and in 1512 the pope gave them the title ‘protectors of the freedom of the church’. They are also known officially as Pontifical Swiss Guard currently 135 members strong who have been protecting and ensuring the safety of the pope since then. They wear a uniform which harks back to the renaissance period however these soldiers are well trained and skilled marksmen besides being Swiss citizens.

q. The Vatican has a unique economy as visitors far outnumber the actual citizens of the country. Its economy is supported by the sale of postage stamps, museum admission fees, tourist souvenirs, sale of publications and contributions give the Vatican its income as it does not have any taxation.

r. As of 2019 Vatican City GDP per capita was of USD 21’198 making it the 18th wealthiest nation in the world per capita.

s. Vatican City has its own postal service separate to that of Rome. It is marked with yellow postboxes which differ from the red postboxes of Rome. Vatican has a museum dedicated to philately and numismatics.

t. Vatican has its own daily, multilingual newspaper L Ósservatore Romano in print since 1861. The Vatican also has its domain (.va) and Vatican radio which broadcasts online.

u. Vatican has the biggest library in the world having over one million texts in its collection and thousands of books get added every year to its massive collection primarily consisting of Latin, Greek and Hebrew texts covering everything from classics to religion and philosophy with oldest texts dating back to 1st century.

v. Vatican is one of the biggest consumers of wine per capita in the world. They ranked 2nd in bottles per capita in 2017 where each of their citizen consumed an average of 76 bottles every year.

w. The ATM machines in Vatican have default instructions in Latin. They are the only ATM machines in the world with this feature.

x. The Vatican postal service is considered amongst the best in the world with more letters sent from its postcode than anywhere else in the world.

y. Popes cannot donate their organs after they pass away. Their body becomes the property of the Vatican City state and must be buried intact.

z. Vatican City has no native population as all its citizens are immigrants and are approved and appointed by the pope to live and work in the city and Vatican only issues diplomatic or service passports. Once the workers stop working the citizenship is revoked and that is why it has the smallest population of any country in the world.

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Vatican – A Brief History

Vatican – A Brief History (Contd.)

Know your Vatican better

Know your Vatican better (Contd.)

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