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Vatican: Vatican City
built 664 days ago
The civil government of Vatican City is run by a lay governor and a council, all appointed by and responsible to the pope. The law is the 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.
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Vatican City is surrounded by Rome. Visitors enter Vatican City through St. Peter's Square. The best way to walk to Vatican City from historic Rome is over the Ponte St. Angelo bridge. Across the bridge, one arrives at Castel St. Angelo, just outside Vatican City. Castel St. Angelo has a connecting passage to the Vatican once used by fleeing popes.
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Vatican City is a non-hereditary, elected monarchy that is ruled by the Bishop of Rome — the Pope. The highest state functionaries are all clergymen of the Catholic Church. It is the sovereign territory of the Holy See (Sancta Sedes) and the location of the Apostolic Palace - the Pope's official residence - and of much of the Roman Curia.
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The history of the Vatican and the history of the Catholic Church are barely separable. The religious center of Europe since its inception, presiding over the Middle ages, through the enlightenment and still to this day, inside the Vatican museum you will find an enormous collection of art collected through it's centuries of history, from Egyptian pieces to Etruscan ruins to Renaissance paintings and, of course, the legendary Sistine Chapel. Of all of the museums, not just in Italy but the world over, this one is not to be missed. Deep in the holy center of Vatican City, this museum is a graceful repository of treasures from ranging the entire history of the Vatican and housed in a series of palaces, apartments and galleries leading to the Sistine Chapel.
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The Vatican City is the smallest country in the world (0,44 km²) and it is an enclave of Italy because it is surrounded by the city of Rome. It was created as country on February 11 1929, with the "Patti Lateranensi" (Lateran Agreement or Treaty), was signed by Benito Mussolini and Pope Pius XI. Though little, it is very important because it is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church.
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The Vatican spokesman added: "The only thing this agreement does is to reiterate what was established by pertinent U.N. institutions and by recent agreements between Israeli and Palestinian authorities." Moreover, "as regards the city of Jerusalem, the agreement does not enter into territorial questions or sovereignty issues that affect the two interested parties-Israelis and Palestinians." The document "refers to the universal religious and cultural dimension of the most sacred places of the city, recognized by the international community itself."
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