Historical information on Vatican City, Italy
[click here to view a larger map] For centuries the Popes lived in the area of the right bank of the Tiber that has become the Vatican City, but the Vatican only developed into the Church's governmental center in the 14th Century when Pope Gregory XI returned from exile in Avignon. From the late 16th through the mid-19th centuries, the Popes again neglected the Vatican, preferring to live in a new palace on the Quirinale Hill, where they believed the air was healthier. It was only after 1870 and the political unification of Italy that the Popes permanently returned to the Vatican. And it was not until 1929, when the Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Holy See recognized its sovereignty and defined its boundaries, that the State of the Vatican City was established as the official home of the Pope and the center of the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican is the smallest sovereign state in the world (its 108 1/2 acres make it one-third the size of Monaco). It has its own currency, postal service, passport, newspapers, radio station and railroad system. Its population of less than 1000 consists almost entirely of Church personnel, Vatican administrators and representatives of international organizations.
St. Peter's - Try to arrive in the square before the real crowds begin 
to gather. The person who stands in this enormous cobble-stone piazza
clearly owes a debt of gratitude to the great architects Bernini, Maderno and
Michelangelo. Standing watch from above the 284 columns of Bernini's colonnade,
and from the rooftop of St. Peter's itself, are 140 larger-than-life statues of
saints. The Basilica of St. Peter was begun under the papacy of Julius II in
1506. As you enter the basilica, which has the traditional form of a Latin
cross, several things will strike you: its size, its incredibly ornate decoration
and, most of all, the pervasive golden light that bathes every corner of the
church. The central and side naves are filled with altars, monuments to the
Popes, statues of the founders, intricate mosaics.
Dominating the apse is the monumental papal altar of Saint Peter in Glory, crowned by a highly theatrical gild bronze canopy, a masterpiece of Baroque energy by Bernini. Look directly overhead and you will see the dome designed by Michelangelo. The highlight of any visit to St. Peter's is in the first chapel in the right nave, just beyond the entrance to the church. It is Michelangelo's &Pietà&. This sculpture is, quite simply, mesmerizing, and a half hour can easily drift by as you stand transfixed in its presence. Entrance to the dome is from the left aisle of the church.