LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Vatican: Vatican State
built 665 days ago
The Vatican Palace was not intended and built as a residence. Only a comparatively small portion of the palace is residential; all the remainder serves the purposes of art and science or is employed for the administration of the official business of the Church and for the management of the palace. The rooms formerly intended specially for residence are today utilized to accommodate collections or as halls of state. Hence, the Vatican can more properly be regarded as a huge museum and a centre of scientific investigation than as a residence. The residential portion of the palace is around the Cortile di San Damaso, and includes ... the quarters of the Swiss Guards and of the gendarmes situated at the foot of this section. Of some 1000 rooms in the whole palace about 200 serve as residential apartments for the pope, the secretary of state, the highest court officials, the high officials in close attendance on the pope, and some scientific and administrative officials.
Source:
The Vatican City, one of the European microstates, is situated on the Vatican Hill in the west-central part of Rome, several hundred metres west of the Tiber river. Its borders (3.2 km or 2 miles in total, all within Italy) closely follow the city wall constructed to protect the Pope from outside attack. The situation is more complex at the famous St. Peter's Square in front of St. Peter's Basilica, where the correct border is just outside the ellipse formed by Bernini's colonnade, but where police jurisdiction has been entrusted to Italy. The Vatican City is the smallest sovereign state in the world at 0.44 square kilometres (108.7 acres).
Source:
Today, Tuesday, November 29th, the Vatican issued new guidance to its dioceses on the role of gay men in the Catholic Church. Members of theAbuse Tracker Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) have noticed a number of inaccurate and unfair portrayals of gay men in the reporting of this document, which has been widely leaked in advance of today's release date. Some of those reports have included references to sexual "preferences," and reporting without verification parishioner statements that most of the priests involved in the Church's sex-abuse scandal were gay. Also, factually incorrect opinions that assert a cause-and- effect link between gay men and pedophilia are being reported without challenge.
Source:
Vatican City is the last remnant of the Papal States, a swath of territories in central Italy acquired over the centuries by the Catholic Church and governed by the pope. Vatican City was established in 1929 under terms of the Lateran Treaty, concluded by the Italian government and the papacy after many years of controversy. Under the treaty, the Catholic Church ceded all claims to the Papal States in return for financial compensation and sovereignty over the Holy See within the state of Vatican City.
Source:
The Vatican city, which appears to be a district of Rome partly enclosed in high walls, is the smallest independent state in the world, ruled by the Pope, Europe's only absolute monarch. It has its own army of Swiss guards, who despite wearing the traditional red, yellow, and blue stripe uniform, and wielding 15th century pikes, are in fact highly trained soldiers responsible for the Pope's personal safety. A major portion of the Vatican consists of the Basilica St Peter, catholicism's most sacred shrine, which attracts pilgrims and tourists from all over the world. Not only are the proportions overwhelming (the dome, designed by Michelangelo towers 136m above the floor), but so are the hundreds of works of arts held inside the basilica. The Properties of the Holy See the city of Rome enjoying extraterritorial rights are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Source:
Vatican City is the smallest independent state in the world in terms of inhabitants and size. It occupies an area of 44 hectares. The borders are represented by its walls and the travertine pavement curve that joins the two wings of the colonnades in St Peter’s Square. Beyond the territory of the State, Vatican jurisdiction ... covers some extraterritorial areas within and outside Rome.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Vatican State