Posted
on February 11, 2014
Vatican
City is the smallest independent country in the world. This “nation”
is so small, it's entirely inside the capital city of another
country!
Vatican
City is the enclave in which the Pope, leader of the Roman Catholic
Church, lives and works, along with about 900 other full-time
residents and around 3,000 workers from outside Vatican City. The
Pope is considered the head of state as well as the head of his
religion. And this city-state is located entirely inside Rome, Italy.
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| Swiss Guards Corps |
Vatican
City has recognized boundaries, people who live there on an ongoing
basis, and its own currency (coins) and postage stamps. The Vatican's
economic activity consists of fees from admission to museums and
sales of items such as publications, stamps, and tourist mementos. It
has an internal police force in the Swiss Guards Corps. Two of the
most important criteria for being considered an independent country
is sovereignty (no other country—not even Italy—has power over
the territory of Vatican City) and recognition as a country by other
countries.
Vatican
City isn't like most other countries because it doesn't have
transportation systems, external defense, or utility services. It
relies on Italy for all of these things. These agreements—sovereignty
and “independence,” BUT dependence on Italy for infrastructure
and defense—were created with the Lateran treaty, signed on this
date in 1929.
What
you see at the Vatican...
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| The Sistine Chapel |
I've
been to Rome, so of course I went to Vatican City. (By the way,
walking into Vatican City definitely does not feel like crossing a
border—no passport check, for example.) One thing I saw was a
really, really, really, really, really long line to get into the
Sistine Chapel.
Okay,
I probably should've waited in that line. But I was only going to be
in Rome for two days, so I chose not to spend all those hours in
line.
I missed seeing some amazing tapestries, ceramics, miniatures,
and frescoes—and the famous Michelangelo painting on the ceiling of
the Sistine Chapel. I also didn't take a guided tour through the
Vatican Gardens.
 |
| This is a detail from the ceiling painting. |
Instead,
I went to Saint Peter's Basilica, which is plenty amazing! This huge
church is the largest in Europe (until 1989, the largest in the
world): 614 feet long, 145 feet high in the aisle, 435 feet inside
Michelangelo's dome. It is considered one of the greatest creations
of Rome's Renaissance—and it should be, since it was worked on by
pretty much every great architect in Italy during the 16th
and 17th centuries: Michelangelo (of course), Bramante,
Raphael, Peruzzi, Bernini, Maderno, and Antonio Sangallo the Younger.
St.
Peter is supposed to be buried there, and many other popes have
certainly been buried in the crypt and necropolis. There is a
treasury museum inside the church, and there are some great statues.
Arguably the most famous statue is Pieta, by Michelangelo: it
portrays Mary holding her grown son Jesus after he has been killed.
Two
big changes have occurred since Michelangelo, then age 25, finished
carving the statue. First, some critics of his time said that such a
young sculptor could not have created such a beautiful piece by
himself. Michelangelo was angry and returned to the sculpture, where
he signed his name by chiseling it into Mary's sash. He never signed
any of his other sculptures, before or after. The second change is
much more recent: in 1972 a crazy man used a hammer to knock off
Mary's nose and fingers. (Did I mention he was crazy? He was
screaming, “I am Jesus Christ” as he attacked the statue.) The
statue has been repaired, but visitors now have to view it behind
bulletproof acrylic glass! (So sad.)
There
are millions and bajillions of things to see in St. Peter's, and
after seeing all of that, we went out to the Piazza (plaza),
where an enormous crowd waited to see Pope John Paul II come to a
window and wave and briefly address the crowd in Italian. That was a
really crazy scene, with the colorful Swiss Guards and an even more
colorful procession with little kids bobbing their heads as they were
carried on tall carry-sticks.
Wow!
What a spectacle it all made!
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