Portal:Vatican City

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Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano; Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae), often shortened as the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state. Ruled by the pope, it is an enclave within Rome and serves as the administrative centre of the Catholic Church. Vatican City is governed by the See of Rome, commonly known as the Holy See, itself a sovereign entity under international law, which maintains its temporal power, governance, diplomacy, and spiritual independence. Vatican is also used as a metonym for the Holy See, which is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City, comprising the pope and the Roman Curia. The independent state of Vatican City came into existence in 1929 via the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, which spoke of it as a new creation, not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756–1870), which had previously encompassed much of Central Italy.

With an area of 49 hectares (121 acres) and a population of about 882 in 2024, it is the smallest sovereign state in the world both by area and by population. It is among the least populated capitals in the world. As governed by the Holy See, Vatican City State is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church; the highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various origins. The Holy See dates to early Christianity and is the principal episcopal see of the Catholic Church, which in 2018 had about 1.329 billion baptized Catholics in the world, in the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. After the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377) the popes have mainly resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere. (Full article...)

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The Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope, aka the VATT, is a 1.8 meter Gregorian telescope observing in the optical and infrared. It is part of the Mount Graham International Observatory. It is situated on Mount Graham in southeast Arizona, and it achieved 'first light', the first starlight to pass through the telescope onto a detector, in 1993. It is operated by the Vatican Observatory, one of the oldest astronomical research institutions in the world, in partnership with The University of Arizona.

The heart of the telescope is an f/1.0 honeycombed construction, borosilicate primary mirror. The mirror was manufactured at The University of Arizona's Steward Observatory Mirror Laboratory[1], which pioneered both the spin-casting and the stressed-lap polishing techniques which are being used for telescope mirrors that include the 6.5 meter aperture MMT and Magellan telescopes and the two 8.4 meter mirrors of the Large Binocular Telescope. The VATT's mirror is unusually 'fast', f/1, which means that its focal distance is equal to its diameter. Because it has such a short focal length, a Gregorian design could be employed which uses a concave secondary mirror at a point beyond the primary focus; this allows unusually sharp focusing across the field of view.

The unusual optical design and novel mirror fabrication techniques mean that both the primary and secondary mirrors are among the most exact surfaces ever made for a ground-based telescope. In addition, the skies above Mount Graham are among the most clear, steady, and dark in the continental North America. Seeing of better than one arc-second even without adaptive optics can be achieved on a regular basis.

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Credit: Rb85

The Vatican Observatory (Specola Vaticana) is an astronomical research and educational institution supported by the Holy See. Originally based in the Roman College of Rome, it now has headquarters and laboratory at the summer residence of the Pope in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, and an observatory at the Mount Graham International Observatory in the United States.^[1]

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The following are images from various Vatican City-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A view of the Gardens of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 2Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 3A map of Vatican City, highlighting notable buildings and the Vatican gardens (from Vatican City)
Image 4The Apostolic Palace (Palazzo Apostolico), the official residence of the pope. Here, Benedict XVI is at the window marked by a maroon banner hanging from the windowsill at centre. (from Vatican City)
Image 5The Seal of Vatican City. Note the use of the Italian language (from Vatican City)
Image 6Pope Leo XIV, 2025 (from Vatican City)
Image 7A map of the United Nations member states (from Vatican City)
Image 8Empress Saint Helena of Constantinople carrying the One True Cross laying the grounds for the gardens using the sacred soil from Mount Calvary. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 9The Vatican obelisk in St. Peter's Square was brought to Rome from Egypt by Caligula. (from Vatican City)
Image 10Italian Garden (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 11The territory of Vatican City State according to the Lateran Treaty (from Vatican City)
Image 12The Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Casina Pio IV (from Vatican City)
Image 13The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Crime in Vatican City)
Image 14Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 15An early interpretation of the relative locations of the circus, and the medieval and current Basilicas of St. Peter (from Vatican City)
Image 16A guard of the Vatican at his sentry box (from Vatican City)
Image 17Pope Pius XI decree and conferment of Saint Therese of France to be Patroness of the gardens, flanked by Cardinal Louis Billot. The Leonine walls, 17 May 1927. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 18Map of the Italian peninsula in 1796, showing the Papal States in central Italy coloured purple (from Vatican City)
Image 19One possible modern interpretation (from Vatican City)
Image 201€-Vatican_Franciscus-Revers (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 21An ATM in Vatican City with Latin instructions (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 22A monument to Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, among the estimated 3,000 members (18%) of the Polish clergy who were killed by the Nazis; of these, 1,992 died in concentration camps. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 23The Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Vatican City)
Image 24A Vatican gendarmerie car (from Vatican City)
Image 25Cesare Orsenigo (left, with Hitler and Ribbentrop), nuncio to Germany, also served as de facto nuncio to Poland. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 26The Vatican City came into existence in 1929, a decade before the start of World War II (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 27Vatican Museums' "New Wing", built by Raffaele Stern (1774–1820) (from Vatican City)
Image 28Bernardino Nogara, the chief Vatican financier during the war (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 29Armenian cross monument (Khatchkar) inside the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 30View of Vatican City in the evening (from Vatican City)
Image 31President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama meet with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on July 10, 2009. (from Women in Vatican City)
Image 32Enlargeable, detailed map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 33Part of the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 34St. Peter's Basilica is one of the most renowned works of Renaissance architecture (from Vatican City)
Image 35Polish ambassador to the Vatican, Kazimierz Papée, was critical of Pius XII's pre-war mediation efforts. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 36Musicians of the British Army's 38th (Irish) Brigade playing in front of St. Peter's Basilica in June 1944 (from Vatican City)
Image 37A souvenir shop on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 38The shortest national railway system in the world (from Vatican City)
Image 39A view of St. Peter's Square from the top of Michelangelo's dome (from Vatican City)
Image 40Map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 41Vatican City's post office was established in February 1929. (from Vatican City)
Image 42A pay phone in the Vatican City (from Vatican City)
Image 43The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets (from Vatican City)
Image 44The Fountain of the Eagle "Fontana dell'Aquilone" in the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 45Members of the Canadian Royal 22nd Regiment in audience with Pope Pius XII, following the 1944 Liberation of Rome. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 46The Ingresso di Sant'Anna, an entrance to Vatican City from Italy (from Vatican City)

Did you know?

... that Karl Malte von Heinz designed the Vatican, Pakistani, Yugoslav and Thai diplomatic missions in India?
... that some Catholics considered Tom Lehrer's "The Vatican Rag" (audio featured) to be blasphemous?
... that Sans's boss theme, "Megalovania", was played at the Vatican as part of a circus act during an audience with Pope Francis?
... that sport in Vatican City has included cricket, calcio fiorentino, and taekwondo?
... that the Vatican selected Mary Milligan in 1987 to be one of only three U.S. experts to assist the International Synod of Bishops on the Laity in Rome?
... that Antiqua et nova is a Vatican document that expresses serious ethical concerns surrounding the usage of artificial intelligence?

... that Bishop Aloisius Muench, the liaison between the Vatican and the U.S. post-war occupation authority in Germany, referred to the latter as "other Hitlers in disguise"?