Explore Holy See (Vatican City)

Location:
Holy See (Vatican City)

Currency:
euro (EUR)

Communications:
The telephone code for Holy See (Vatican City): + 299

About:
The Vatican, the worldwide headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, is bordered by a wall, and completely surrounded by the city of Rome, Italy.

It's the smallest state in the world, and includes: Saint Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Palace ( the Pope's formal residence ), the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and dozens of administrative buildings and historic monuments.

Popes in their secular role ruled portions of the Italian peninsula for more than a thousand years until the mid 19th century, when many of the Papal States were seized by the newly united Kingdom of Italy. In 1870, the pope's holdings were further circumscribed when Rome itself was annexed.

Disputes between a series of "prisoner" popes and Italy were resolved in 1929 by three Lateran Treaties, which established the independent state of Vatican City and granted Roman Catholicism special status in Italy.

In 1984, a concordat between the Holy See and Italy modified certain of the earlier treaty provisions, including the primacy of Roman Catholicism as the Italian state religion.

Present concerns of the Holy See include religious freedom, international development, the Middle East, terrorism, interreligious dialogue and reconciliation, and the application of church doctrine in an era of rapid change and globalization.

About 1 billion people worldwide profess the Catholic faith.