!!!Vatican City State

by Stanislav Sedov and Dmitry Moiseenko,
members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

31 October 2012

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

Vatican City is the smallest independent state in the world with a total
area of 0.44 square kilometers and the total length of the state border
of 3 kilometers.

The "border" is quite symbolic. It's a white line on the pavement along
the outer perimeter of St. Peter's Square and the defense wall built in
the XVI century to prevent trespassing. Actually, this type of wall
surrounds any monastery or a bastion. Vatican has neither border guards
nor passport control, but it has a certain dress code. Since Vatican is
a religious country, visitors are supposed be dressed appropriately (no
shorts or cleavage). However in general, Vatican and its majestic
monuments belong to a long list of Rome landmarks.

Vatican has almost two thousand years of history. Mons Vaticanus hill
was here in the past; the name is translated from Latin as "the place of
divination." It was considered sacred in ancient Rome. The Circus of
Nero was built here, a place where the ruthless emperor tortured his
victims. Also, it was in this circus that Saint Peter met his death. In
326 A.C., when Christianity came to this land, Constantinian Basilica
was built atop of alleged tomb of Saint Peter, which gave start to Papal
State.

[{Image src='01_St Peter_s Basilica and Saint Peter_s Square.jpg' caption='St Peters Basilica and Saint Peter_s Square' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='676'}]

It rapidly expanded, and by the end of XIX century it occupied most of
the Apennine peninsula. In 1870 the Kingdom of Italy seized the papal
lands. At that time the Pope locked himself in the Vatican Hill,
declaring himself a prisoner. It took six decades to settle the
political confrontation between the Italian Government and the Papacy.
So in 1929 Vatican City State became a sovereign territory of the Holy
See.

Despite its small territory, Vatican City has fabulous treasures. The
treasures have accumulated gradually, and over time this collection has
grown so much that now it requires separate museums. So today the main
Vatican landmarks contain priceless works of art, created by famous
artists and sculptors.

[{Image src='02_Interior of St Peter_s Basilica.jpg' caption='Interior of St Peters Basilica' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='655'}]

Famous St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City is more than just a tourist
attraction. It's the heart of the country, a symbol of Catholicism and,
until recently, the largest Christian church in the world. It employed
several generations of great artisans, including Raphael and
Michelangelo.

The church has the internal floor area 15160 square meters (with total
area about 23000 square meters). Its height is 133 meters and length is
211.5 meters (with portico). The dome sits on top of four heavy pillars;
it has an inner height of 119 meters and 42 meters in diameter. St.
Peter's Basilica in Vatican City has given up its first place only
recently. In 1990 a church in the capital of Cote d'Ivoire, an African
country, surpassed it in size. But even this largest Christian church
was built after St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City!





[{Image src='Vatican.jpg' caption='St Peters Basilica' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='675'}]

And of course, we should mention the giant Cathedral Square, which was
built to accommodate maximum number of believers. It's a world
masterpiece of urban planning. It has monumental fountains and an
obelisk, which contains pieces of the Holy Cross. At nighttime the
square is illuminated, creating a special atmosphere in this sacred
place.

[{Image src='04_St Peter_s Basilica and Saint Peter_s Square.jpg' caption='St Peters Basilica and Saint Peters Square' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='675'}]

Of course, Vatican City is more than just a church, the square, and
museums. Over a half of the city-state territory is filled with gardens
established during Renaissance and Baroque era by order of the Pope.
Most of the gardens are well maintained, but there are wild areas with
dense thickets of oak, cypress and other wild trees. There are bats,
snakes, rabbits, and birds in the gardens! As well as Pontifical Academy
of Sciences, Pius IV villa decorated with mosaics, palaces, towers,
college, and the Vatican Railway: cleanest and most un-crowded train
station in the world.

These (and many more) parts of Vatican City are not open for tourists.
However, now you can see them on our aerial panoramas.

\\ \\
[9 Panoramas of Vatican City State|Geography/Territories_Oceans_and_Islands/Holy_See_(Vatican_City)/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Vatican]










[{SET customtitle='Vatican City State (AP)'}]    

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