The Vatican City | 10 Interesting Facts You Should Know

I’ll share with you 10 interesting things you should know about the Vatican, the heart of the Roman Catholic Church, while with we take a tour cared of Headout. Top 10 1. The Vatican City is the smallest country in the world. It is governed as an absolute monarchy with the pope as the head. It even prints its own stamps, issues passport, has it’s own flag, anthem and media outlets 2. The Vatican doesn’t have taxation. Their revenue is mainly from Museum admission fees, stamp and souvenir sales, and contributions. 3. The cold war between the church and the Italian government For nearly 60 years the popes refused to leave the Vatican. Popes ruled over a collection of sovereign Papal States throughout Italy until the country was unified in 1870. The new government had seized all the land of the Papal States with the exception of the Vatican, and a cold war then broke out between the church and the Italian government. Popes refused to recognize the authority of the Kingdom of Italy, and the Vatican remained beyond Italian national control. 4. Benito Mussolini signed Vatican City into existence. The dispute between the Italian government and the Catholic Church ended with the signing of the Lateran Pacts. This allowed the Vatican to exist as its own sovereign state and compensated the church $92 million (which is now more than a $1 billion in today’s money) for the Papal States. It was Benito Mussolini, the head of the Italian government, that signed the treaty on behalf of King Victor Emmanuel III. 5. Michaelangelo and the Sistine Chapel. We’re not allowed to take photos or videos inside the sistine chapel which was my favorite during our tour. So let me talk about it while we explore other parts of the Vatican. The ceiling is divided into 9 central panels, which illustrates The Creation of the World, The Expulsion of Adam and Eve, and The Story of Noah. The most famous of these panels was The Creation of Adam, which shows the figure of God touching the fingertip of Adam in order to bring him to life. They also said that the figure of God was shaped like the human brain. Another popular panel was the Fall from Grace and Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and The Last Judgment located at the altar of the sistine chapel. The composition depicts hell as is described by the poet Dante in his Divine Comedy.At the center of the painting is Christ and he is surrounded on all sides by nude figures, including apostles and saints. It is divided into the blessed souls, at left, and the damned, at right. Another interesting about this masterpiece of Michaelangelo was the fact that he drew the people he disliked on the faces of the damned souls at the right.’ 6. Entirely UNESCO World Heritage Site Not only Vatican Museums, but the whole Vatican city has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. 7. Raphael Rooms and The School of Athens One of the most famous paintings in the Raphael Rooms is the School of Athens representing philosophy and science and other disciplines. It is in part a homage to some of the most important artists and scholars active at the papal court at the beginning of the sixteenth century. This painting represents an idealized gathering of scholars and artists from the classical world, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, and constitutes one of Raphael’s greatest achievements. 8. The Vatican Museum has one of the largest art collections in the world The vatican museum has over 9 miles art collection with 1,400 rooms, chapels, ang galleries. And Michelangelo, onee of the most famous artists in the renaissance era, dedicated almost 10 years of his life just to complete the beautiful ceiling of thee sistine chapel. Another notable creation of his was the Pieta which is protected by a bullet proof glass located in St. Peter’s Basilica. 9. St. Peter’s Basilica - The Biggest Church in the World It was said that The St. Peter’s Basilica sits atop a city of the dead, including St. Peter who is the leader of the Apostles and the first bishop of Rome— The present basilica, built starting in the 1500s, sits over a maze of catacombs and St. Peter’s suspected grave. It is also the biggest church in the world; there is even a measurement of some sort that compares it’s size to some of the famous churches around the world. It was also said that no building around Italian capital should be higher than the dome found in St. Peter’s Basilica. 10. The Swiss Guard of the Vatican City The Swiss Guard’s role in the Vatican City is strictly to protect the safety of the pope. Although the world’s smallest standing army appears to be strictly ceremonial with it’s colorful uniforms, its soldiers are extensively trained and highly skilled marksmen. And, yes, the force is entirely comprised of Swiss citizens.