Vatican City or Holy See, officially Holy See (State of the Vatican City), independent state (2005 est. pop. 900), 108.7 acres (44 hectares), within the city of Rome, Italy, and the residence of the pope, who is its absolute ruler. Vatican City may be said to correspond politically to the former Papal States , but it was created as a result of the Lateran Treaty of 1929 between Pope Pius XI and King Victor Emmanuel III (negotiated by Cardinal Gasparri and Mussolini), which ended the so-called Roman Question.

Geographic and Political Extent

The Vatican City is a roughly triangular tract of land within Rome, on the west bank of the Tiber River and west of the Castel Sant'Angelo. In its southeast corner is the piazza of Saint Peter's Church , surrounded by the splendid colonnade. North of the piazza is a quadrangular area containing administrative buildings and the Belvedere Park. West of Belvedere Park are the pontifical palaces, and beyond the palaces lie the Vatican Gardens, which make up half the area of the little state. The Leonine Wall forms the western and southern boundaries.

In the city of Rome are certain important basilicas, churches, and other buildings to which the Italian government extends the rights of extraterritoriality and tax exemption but not papal sovereignty. The basilicas include San Giovanni in Laterno (St. John Lateran ), Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major), and San Paolo fuori le Mura (St. Paul outside the Walls). The palace of San Callisto at the foot of the Janiculum also shares the immunity of the Vatican, as does the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, in the Alban Hills outside Rome.

Vatican City has its own citizenship, issues its own currency and postage stamps, and has its own flag and a large diplomatic corps. It is open to visitors all year, and the pope receives callers in public and private audiences. It has its own newspaper ( Osservatore Romano ), railroad station, and broadcasting facility (first established by Marconi under Pius XI). The seven Vatican universities, including the Pontifical Gregorian Univ., are located in Rome. The political freedom of the Vatican is guaranteed and protected by Italy.

Civil and Church Government

The civil government of Vatican City is headed by the cardinal president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City, which is the state's legislature; the state is governed under the Fundamental Law of 2000. The legal system is based on canon law , and the courts are part of the judicial system of the church. The only court special to Vatican City is a court of first instance for civil and criminal cases arising in the city.

The Vatican is above all the seat of the central government of the Roman Catholic Church . Because of the papacy 's vast interest in temporal as well as spiritual affairs, an elaborate bureaucracy has been developed over the course of centuries. The pope governs the church with the College of Cardinals . He may act as he chooses without their consent, but in practice he relies on the cardinals for advice as well as for administration of the church government. The whole administrative body surrounding the pope and responsible to him is called the Curia Romana.

The papal court long had all the characteristics of a royal court, such as elaborate rituals and uniforms, and complex rules of precedence; however, since the reign of Pope John XXIII (1958–63) and the Second Vatican Council, many of the Vatican ceremonies have been greatly simplified. The bodyguard of the pope is the corps of Swiss Guards , founded in the 16th cent. and made up of a small group of Roman Catholic Swiss. Its members wear the splendid Renaissance uniforms designed by Michelangelo.

The Palaces and the Vatican's Treasures

The Vatican palaces are an irregular mass of three-story and four-story buildings, built on long, plain lines and broken by additions and alterations. The papal residence and offices occupy the portion near the colonnade, and the rest is given over to museums and the Vatican Library. The Vatican museums are among the most important in the world; they are the Museo Pio-Clementino, founded in the 18th cent. and containing one of the world's great collections of antiquities; the Chiaramonti Museum, founded in the early 19th cent. and holding a collection of Greek sculptures and Renaissance imitations; the Braccio Nuovo, considered by many to be the most beautiful of all the museums; the Egyptian Museum and the Etruscan Museum, opposite the Braccio Nuovo; and the Pinacoteca Vaticana (opened in 1932), which contains paintings by Giotto, Guercino, Caravaggio, Poussin, and others.

The museums, however, house only part of the Vatican's treasure, for many of the Renaissance and modern paintings are found in the galleries surrounding the various courtyards, such as the Cortile del Belvedere and the Cortile San Damasco. Adjoining the Cortile San Damasco is the building containing the Borgia apartments on the first floor and the Raphael rooms on the second. The works of Raphael and his followers in the building make it one of the most famous artistic monuments in the world. The Vatican Library lies all along the western side of the Giardino della Pigna and Cortile del Belvedere. It is one of the world's richest repositories of ancient and medieval manuscripts in many languages. The principal chapel in the Vatican is the Sistine Chapel , the ceiling of which was painted (1508–12) by Michelangelo.

History

The history of the Vatican as a papal residence dates from the 5th cent., when, after Emperor Constantine I had built the basilica of St. Peter's, Pope Symmachus built a palace nearby. The pope usually resided in the Lateran Palace until the "Babylonian captivity" (14th cent.) in Avignon, France. After the return of the papacy to Rome (1377) the Vatican became the usual residence. The Renaissance popes, principally Sixtus IV , Innocent VIII , Alexander VI , Julius II , Leo X , and Clement VII , were great patrons of the arts, and it was they who began to assemble the great collections and to construct the wonderful galleries. Gregory XIII and Sixtus V spent huge sums on the Vatican and also began the Quirinal, a palace that served as the papal residence from the 17th to the 19th cent., was the Italian royal palace from 1870 to 1946, and is now the home of the president of Italy.

Bibliography

See M. T. Bonney, The Vatican (photographs with explanations, 1940); K. Isper, Vatican Art (1953); R. Neville, The World of the Vatican (1962); P. M. Letarouilly, Vatican (2 vol., 1954–64); A. Lipinsky, The Vatican (tr. 1968); N. Lo Bello, The Vatican Wealth (1971).

Vatican City State

The Holy See, the national entity that is located in what is usually referred to as Vatican City, may be most easily defined as the central government of the Roman Catholic Church. The physical location of this ancient walled enclave is only .44 square kilometers. The total population of Vatican citizens can fluctuate between 400 to approximately 900 residents, with about 3,000 lay people who work within the Vatican but live outside its boundaries. Citizenship is not a birthright; citizens are primarily members of the clergy and can receive their citizenship for short but renewable periods of time as selected by the members of the Holy See. There is no annual birthrate, thus no need for primary schools, but it does consistently have a 100 percent literacy rate.

Besides what is within the Vatican walls, the Holy See also controls around a dozen buildings, such as the Castle Gondolfo (the Pope's summer residence) and many of the pontifical university buildings, which are outside the official boundaries. There are at least 15 educational institutions that have received Pontifical status from the Pope, but most actually exist on the streets of Rome not within the Vatican. The institutes, colleges, and universities do a wide variety of educational tasks from training young seminarians who are to receive their fundamental instruction before ordination up to training clergy from around the world on advanced studies in subjects like the canon law of the church, theology, and spirituality. The students may then return home or serve a mission elsewhere as a pastor, administrator, and/or instructor. Many of the institutions award graduate degrees, including doctorates.

Some of these major institutions of higher education that are actually within Rome's territory but claimed as part of the Vatican, are: Gregorian University (Pontificia Universita Gregoriana), which is paired, in physical plant and study, with the Biblical Institute (Pontificio Insituto Biblico) and its affiliated school, the Oriental Institute (Pontificio Isitutio Orientale); the Lateran University (Pontificia Universita Lateranense); Urban University (Pontificia Universita Urbaniana); St. Thomas Aquinas University (Pontificia Universita S. Tommaso d' Aquino); University of the Holy Cross (Pontificia Universita della Santa Croce); and Salesian University Pontificia Universita Salesiana), founded by St. John Bosco in the mid-1880s, named for a order of priests, brothers, and nuns who had a special devotion to helping young people, especially the poor, through education, activities, and work—often on farms.

The most famous of the universities may be Gregorian University, also known by the affectionate nickname of "The Greg." Its rector is appointed by the Pope and its teachers are almost all Jesuits (Society of Jesus), though not all of its students over the years have been clergy. Founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Borgia in 1551, its curriculum includes canon law, theology, philosophy, psychology, social sciences, and church history. It was given its present name years after its founding to honor Pope Gregory XIII (much the way Urban University bares a name popular with popes for centuries), who helped to expand the school. Among its graduates are 16 popes, at least 19 canonized saints, and at least another 24 who have been beatified.

The Ethiopian College, the only school still within the grounds of the Holy See/Vatican City, is a seminar started to train young African males for the priesthood. It has graduated many of the African bishops and cardinals who are now in office. The North American College, like the Ethiopian College, was built for seminarians and priests from that particular continent. It is one of the newest institutions, having been founded about the time of the American Civil War. There are also other, older institutions within Rome's territory, like the Angelicum, run by the Dominicans, where Pope John Paul II took a doctorate.

Within the Vatican are several scholarly and educational institutions. Of great interest to scholars is the Vatican Library (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), founded by Pope Nicholas V in the mid-1400s. It has been filled with books, manuscripts, and engravings throughout the centuries. It also contains the Vatican School of Librarianship. Next to the Apostolic Library is the Secret Vatican Archives. Obviously, its existence is not a secret, but it does conserve important possessions of the church along with ancient manuscripts and all the correspondence, since 1660, of the Holy See's Secretariat of State. It also runs the Vatican School of Palaeography, Diplomacy, and Archivistry. Additionally, there are three academies established for both study and promotion of the church's beliefs. The Pontifical Academy of Sciences is by far the oldest, founded in 1603 when it was called the Academy of the Lynx-Eyed. Its 80 members are appointed by the pope and are chosen from around the globe. Both the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and the Pontifical Academy for Life were founded in 1994 by Pope John Paul II.

Bibliography

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The World Fact-book 2000. Directorate of Intelligence, 1 January 2000. Available from http://www.cia.gov/.

—Michael W. Young

Vatican City State

Basic Data

Upon resolving disputes with Italy, the State of the Vatican City (Stato della Citta del Vaticano ) or The Holy See (Santa Sede ) was founded February 11, 1929, creating an independent, landlocked entity essentially within Italy's own capital of Rome. Being the world's smallest physical state and with a 2001 estimated population of just 890, the ecclesiastical government of the Holy See still wields substantial influence due to the roughly 1 billion people worldwide professing Catholicism.

L'Osservatore Romano is the oldest press organization functioning for the Vatican. Founded July 1, 1861, under Pius IX, it became the official newspaper of the Holy See in 1885 under Leo XIII. It publishes weekly editions in French (since 1949), Italian (1950), English (1968), Spanish (1969), Portuguese (1970), and German (1971), with a monthly edition in Polish (1980).

As of 1991, the Vatican Information Service (VIS) of the Holy See Press Office publishes (in English, Spanish, French, and Italian) newsworthy content concerning the pope, the Catholic Church, and the state Monday through Friday of all months except August. Daily, before formal transmission, it faxes and e-mails subscribers the current day's content. Also, the Holy See Press Office daily produces the Holy See Press Office Bulletin (Italian; translations when available) available to all with a version under embargo that is available only to licensed journalists.

Vatican Radio began February 12, 1931, under Pope Pius XI and remains the sole radio station of The Holy See. Since its inauguration, the radio has been managed by the Jesuit order. Programs are broadcast in 34 languages and sent on shortwave (two), medium-wave (three), FM (four), satellite frequencies and on the Internet. Personnel from more than 60 nations staff the radio.

Vatican Television Center (CTV) began in 1983 and became fully recognized by The Holy See in 1996. Like other Vatican media, CTV is concerned with broadcasting activities and messages of the pope and related Catholic Church concerns. It conducts around 130 live broadcasts per annum, produces documentaries, creates a weekly magazine program called Octava Dies that is distributed internationally, and serves as an archival facility for all of its footage. On Sundays the station uses Intelsat to broadcast the pope's Angelus to the United States.

Fides and the Missionary News Agency are the city-state's two news agencies. Along with other media, The Holy See extensively utilizes the Internet to transmit official current and historical information it sees as important for general dissemination. As of 2000, it had 93 Internet service providers located in both the Holy See and in Italy. The homepage of its official English Web site is http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm.

Depending on perspective, censorship can be seen to be either an insignificant or a major issue with the Holy See. Appropriate officials must approve all material, media organizations cannot function without permission of governing authorities, and dissenting opinions are tolerated only on certain issues and only within certain parameters. For all practical purposes, the state is the press and the press is the state. However, there is an explicitly communicated sense of expected allegiances and adherences deemed necessary to work under the auspices of the Holy See due to its inextricable bind with religion and in all fairness, it would be difficult not to be aware of this before joining. The state's very existence is based upon what are considered transcendent and eternal principles rather than on solely temporal reasons for governance, but one must question how to deal with such issues when they seem to be exclusionary rather than inclusive. Ethically, this puzzle—along with its concerns—quickly spills into the realm of media and the right to communicate.

Bibliography

All the World's Newspapers. Available from www.webwombat.com.au/intercom/newsprs/index.htm.

BBC News Country Profiles. Available from http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/country_profiles/.

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In The World Fact-book 2001. Available from http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/.

Sumner, Jeff, ed. Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media, Vol. 5 136th ed. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2002.

Stat-USA International Trade Library: Country Background Notes. Available from http://www.stat-usa.gov.

World Desk Reference. Available from http://www.travel.dk.com/wdr/VA/mVA_Intr.htm.

Clint B. Thomas Baldwin

Vatican City, the independent neutral Catholic state in Rome, whose sovereign ruler is the pope. It was established under the terms of the Lateran treaty concluded in February 1929 between Mussolini and Pope Pius XI. His wartime successor Pius XII adopted a policy of keeping open diplomatic channels with all the belligerents, maintaining a strictly non-partisan stance that infuriated the envoys of both sides. Inevitably, the Vatican was the centre of much diplomatic lobbying and intrigue: it was used by members of the German resistance against Hitler to channel some of their messages to the Allies (see X-report). After the fall of Mussolini, the independence of the Vatican itself was at risk: in July 1943 Hitler seriously considered occupying it and was only dissuaded by Ribbentrop and Goebbels. Vatican property provided refuge for numbers of Jews, refugees, and Allied prisoners-of-war after Italy's surrender in September 1943. In 1944 right-wing priests in the Vatican began, unofficially, to establish escape lines, or ratlines as they were called, for Nazis and their collaborators. This organization, obsessively anti-communist, was itself deeply penetrated by Soviet intelligence. See also diplomacy.

Bibliography

Aarons, M., and and Loftus, J. , Ratlines (London, 1991).
Chadwick, O. , Britain and the Vatican during the Second World War (Cambridge, 1986).

Vatican City State An independent papal state in Rome, the seat of the Roman Catholic Church. Following the RISORGIMENTO, the Papal States (the modern Italian provinces of Lazio, Umbria, Le Marche, and parts of Emilia-Romagna) became incorporated into a unified Italy in 1870 while, by the Law of Guarantees (1871), the Vatican was granted extraterritoriality. The temporal power of the pope was suspended until the Lateran Treaty of 1929, signed between Pope Pius XI and MUSSOLINI, which recognized the full and independent sovereignty of the Holy See in the City of the Vatican. It covers an area of 44 hectares (109 acres) and has its own police force, diplomatic service, postal service, railway station, coinage, and radio station. It has about 1000 inhabitants.

The Vatican Bank is the official bank of the Vatican City and manages and invests money belonging to the Roman Catholic Church. It was at the centre of a financial scandal in the 1980s that involved allegations of state corruption, but no Vatican Bank officials were brought to trial.

Vatican City Independent sovereign state, existing as a walled enclave on the w bank of the River Tiber, within the city of Rome. It is the official home of the papacy and an independent base for the Holy See (governing body of the Roman Catholic Church). The first papal residence was established in the 5th century, and it has been the papal home ever since (apart from a brief spell at Avignon in the 14th century). Vatican City did not achieve full independence until 1929. The world's smallest nation, its population of c.1000 (mostly unmarried males) includes the Pope's traditional Swiss Guard of 100. The Commission, appointed to administer the Vatican's affairs, has its own radio service, police and railway station and issues its own stamps and coins. The treasures of the Vatican, notably Michelangelo's frescos in the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's, attract huge numbers of tourists and pilgrims. The official language is Latin. Area: 0.44sq km (0.17sq mi).

http://www.vatican.va

Vatican City The Vatican City (Italian: Città del Vaticano) since 1929 when the Italian government recognized the Vatican City's independence and papal sovereignty in the Lateran Treaty and established the Vatican City State. It is the smallest state in the world and is an enclave within the city of Rome. The treaty also delineated the territorial extent of the temporal power of the Holy See. This is the seat of the Pope and is the term used to describe the government of the Roman Catholic Church by the Pope and his associates. The Vatican stands on Vatican Hill (not one of the ‘seven hills’ of Rome) whose Latin name was Mons Vaticanus from vaticinator ‘prophet’ or ‘soothsayer’. The soothsayers were located here in Roman times and the hill took its name from them.

Vatican City

Culture Name

Vatican

Alternative Names

Holy See, the Vatican

Orientation

Identification. The Vatican, or Vatican City, is the center of Roman Catholicism and the residence of the bishop of Rome (the pope). The popes controlled the Papal States in what is now Italy throughout most of the Middle Ages. On 13 May 1871, the new Italian state restricted the pope's temporal authority to the Vatican and Lateran areas of Rome and the rural retreat of Castel Gandolfo. The popes refused to accept the validity of this law until the Concordat of 11 February 1929 gave the Catholic Church special status in Italy and paid an indemnity to the now independent Vatican City.

Location and Geography. The Vatican's 108.7 acres are completely surrounded by Rome.

Demography. There are about 850 Italian and Swiss permanent residents, along with lay workers from Catholic communities around the world.

Linguistic Affiliation. The major languages are Italian and Latin.

Symbolism. The pope represents a link to Saint Peter and Jesus. Vatican ceremonies recall the words and actions of Jesus and his followers. Candles, incense and various rituals carry symbolic meaning. The Vatican is a symbol of Church leadership and its apostolic tradition.

History and Ethnic Relations

Emergence of the Nation. The Vatican is a successor to the Papal States, which made up a large area of central Italy. After the unification of Italy, the new state annexed the Papal States after Germany defeated France, which had protected the pope's interests, in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871). The popes refused to leave, declaring themselves "Prisoners of the Vatican," until Benito Mussolini signed agreements in 1929 granting the Church special privileges in Italy and a cash settlement. The Vatican was given independence under papal rule. Since that time, the Vatican has been an independent state that sends and receives ambassadors.

National Identity. The Vatican's identity is religious, not national. It presents itself as transnational and universal.

Ethnic Relations. The Vatican has sought ties with members of all ethnic groups as part of its universal religious identity.

Urbanism, Architecture, and the Use of Space

The Vatican is entirely urban. It has many artistic and architectural masterpieces, including Saint Peter's Cathedral and the Sistine Chapel. Despite its small area, there is a sense of openness and comfort.

Food and Economy

Food in Daily Life. The major food style is that of Rome. Like other Italians, residents of the Vatican consider their cooking the best in the world. Pope John Paul II caused a furor when he requested Polish cooking from the papal chef.

Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions. On New Year's Eve, the Italian tradition is to have the meal of the seven fishes, including eels, conch, and squid. Lamb is a traditional Easter dish. For each of these meals, there is always a pasta course.

Basic Economy. The economy is based on religious work: the Vatican receives contributions from churches around the world. Tourists come to visit religious shrines and view the art. The major commercial activities are organized around religious concerns, the major industry is governance of the Church, and trade is organized around religious goods.

Land Tenure and Property. The Church owns all property in Vatican City and areas outside the Vatican covered by extraterritorial rights.

Division of Labor. The Curia rules the Church under the pope. Its members come from countries around the world and work in many governmental departments. The pope presides over the bureaucracy, delegating and consulting with his subordinates. The heads of the important bureaus tend to be cardinals.

Social Stratification

Classes and Castes. The Vatican is highly stratified. The pope is at the apex of the hierarchy and cardinal-archbishops, bishops, monsignors, priests, and others come below him, followed by the heads of bureaus. Lay workers generally rank below the clergy.

Symbols of Social Stratification. Clerical dress marks a person's rank. The pope's white robes distinguish him clearly. Cardinals wear red, and other ranks are noted by their style of dress and rings. Style of clothing, place in a procession line, and seating are also marks of social position.

Political Life

Government. The basic law is the Code of Canon Law. Church councils meet approximately once per century. Bishops' synods meet periodically and offer advice, but the day-to-day running of the Vatican is in the hands of appointed officials who oversee the Curia.

Leadership and Political Officials. There are no political parties, but the positions held by the clergy and the laity cover a wide spectrum of opinion, although those positions are not always equally represented. There is an elaborate code of etiquette for approaching officials. Generally, go-betweens are used to arrange meetings. Much is done informally. There is a feeling that consensus should be reached before decisions are published. Therefore, things are discussed at length before the pope speaks officially.

Social Problems and Control. There is little crime, and the typical problems are disputes over religious doctrine and governance. Strict statements and actions regarding conformity to doctrine, including censorship and the silencing of dissidents, have alternated with attempts at persuasion and expressions of conciliation.

Military Activity. The Vatican is officially neutral in world affairs but can mediate disputes if invited to do so. Swiss guards in medieval uniforms protect the pope and the city.

Social Welfare and Change Programs

There are social welfare programs for employees. Catholic charity organizations promote social welfare and change throughout the world.

Nongovernmental Organizations and Other Associations

In the Vatican, there are no distinctions between church and state. The Vatican works with many secular organizations.

Gender Roles and Statuses

The ethos is male-dominated. There have been efforts toward greater gender equality, especially on the part of nuns. However, as long as the priesthood is reserved for males, it will be difficult to achieve such equality. Men hold the vast majority of key positions.

Marriage, Family, and Kinship

The married people in the Vatican are mainly commuting workers whose family arrangements are the same as those in Italy.

Etiquette

The Vatican insists on modest and appropriate dress in its sacred places. Quiet is enjoined in sacred areas, and deference to the clergy is expected. There is strict adherence to speaking only when addressed and deferring to senior officials.

Religion

Religious Beliefs. The Vatican is a Catholic state whose population is virtually 100 percent Roman Catholic. There is a belief in heaven and hell and in just rewards or punishments for one's actions on earth. There is a belief in a supreme triune God, and various saints are honored. The final judgment and resurrection of the dead are tenets of the faith.

Religious Practitioners. The Catholic clergy are the major religious practitioners and can administer the seven sacraments, depending on their rank. Bishops can ordain other priests.

Rituals and Holy Places. The Vatican is a treasure trove of special buildings and shrines. Saint Peter's is the site of Peter's tomb and is built over the original basilica. The Sistine Chapel in the church features the ceiling painted by Michelangelo. The Lateral Palace, once the home of the popes, is another magnificent building. Saint Peter's Square is known around the world, and the pope often addresses the world from the square. It is also the site of many of his public masses. The religious calendar of the Catholic Church is followed, along with the rituals appropriate to that calendar.

Death and the Afterlife. The beliefs of the Catholic Church in a life after death, the existence of Purgatory, and the efficacy of prayers for the dead are followed.

Medicine and Health Care

The Vatican has an up-to-date health care system that draws on specialists from around the world.

Secular Celebrations

There are no secular holidays. The major religious feasts are Christmas and Easter, and there are other major holy days and feast days of saints.

The Arts and Humanities

The Church has a long history of supporting the arts. The Vatican is among other things a museum. Its library is a major source of knowledge about the Renaissance and European history.

The State of the Physical and Social Sciences

The Vatican is more interested in social sciences than physical sciences. It is not opposed to the physical sciences and has stated its general support for the physical sciences and their compatibility with religion. Within the Vatican, there has been more immediate application of the social sciences, particularly sociology, psychology, and political science.

Bibliography

"Future Doubtful for Bishops' Conferences." America 179 (4): 3, 1998.

Hersey, George L. High Renaissance Art in St. Peter's and the Vatican: An Interpretive Guide, 1993.

Hutchinson, Robert J. When in Rome: A Journal of Life in the Vatican, 1998.

McDowell, Bart, James L. Stanfield, Elizabeth L. Newhouse, and Charles M. Kogod, eds. Inside the Vatican, 1993.

Reese, Thomas. Inside the Vatican, 1996.

Roncalli, Francesco. Vatican City: Vatican Museums, 1997.

Steinfels, Margaret O'Brien. "How the Vatican Works: An Interview with Thomas J. Reese." Commonweal, 123 (4): 10–13, 1996.

Stickler, Alphonso. The Vatican Library: Its History and Treasures, 1989.

—Frank A. Salamone

Vatican City A sovereign Roman Catholic bishopric established by the Lateran Treaties. Its titular head is the Pope as Bishop of Rome, though it is governed in practice by a Cardinal as state secretary. It comprises the area around St Peter's basilica in Rome, a number of churches in Rome, and the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. Although Vatican City is not a member of the European Union, it is tied to Italy in a Customs and Currency Union, and since 1999 its currency has been the euro.

http://www.vatican.va

Vatican Palace Residence of the pope within the Vatican City. A building of more than 1000 rooms clustered around a number of courtyards, it contains the papal apartments, the offices of the Vatican City state secretariat, state reception rooms, the Vatican Museums, the Vatican Archive, and the Vatican Library.