Vatican: Vatican City
Vatican City, a city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy, is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. It's home to the Pope and a trove of iconic art and architecture. Its Vatican Museums house ancient Roman sculptures such as the famed “Laocoön and His Sons” as well as Renaissance frescoes in the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel, famous for Michelangelo’s ceiling.
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Today we explored the Vatican Museum, home to many of the world's most renowned classical sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art. Part of the tour was visiting the Sistine Chapel where you can find Michelangelo's frescoes, which have been restored to their full glory. We also visited St Peter's Basilica where Michaelangelo's "Pieta" - the only work signed by the master - was one of the many highlights.
The Vatican City is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state (a type of theocracy) 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 national origins. Since the return of the popes from Avignon in 1377, they have generally resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere.
The Holy See dates back to early Christianity, and is the primate episcopal see of the Catholic Church, with 1.3 billion Catholic Christians around the world distributed in the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. The independent Vatican City-state, on the other hand, came into existence on 11 February 1929 by the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and 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.
Within the Vatican City are religious and cultural sites such as St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Museums. They feature some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. The unique economy of Vatican City is supported financially by the sale of postage stamps and souvenirs, fees for admission to museums, and sales of publications. (Wikipedia)
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Today we explored the Vatican Museum, home to many of the world's most renowned classical sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art. Part of the tour was visiting the Sistine Chapel where you can find Michelangelo's frescoes, which have been restored to their full glory. We also visited St Peter's Basilica where Michaelangelo's "Pieta" - the only work signed by the master - was one of the many highlights.
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