Civitas Vaticana - Città del Vaticano

Vaticano is a district of Rome measuring 225.2 hectares, it encompasses the 49-hectare Vatican City State (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano; Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae), as well as the surrounding Roman neighbourhoods of Borgo (48.77 hectares) and Prati (127.43 hectares). St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel are all in Vatican City. This tiny country completely within Rome is packed with more history and artwork than most cities in the world, and indeed many countries. The Vatican City is the temporal seat of the Pope, head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Situated within the city of Rome, the Vatican is the world's smallest sovereign state. You may also hear the term Holy See (Italian: Santa Sede; Latin: Sancta Sedes), which is used to refer to the Diocese of Rome—that is, the ecclesiastical and administrative authority of the Pope, rather than the sovereign governmental entity that is the Vatican City State. Vatican City is all that remains of the Papal States, the former temporal land holdings of the Pope. Over the years, this territory varied considerably in extent, and may be traced back to AD 756 with the "Donation of Pepin". However, the popes had been the de facto rulers of Rome and the surrounding province since the fall of the Roman Empire and the retreat of Byzantine power in Italy. 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 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, granted Roman Catholicism special status in Italy, recognised the full sovereignty of the Vatican and established its territorial extent. In 1984, the agreement was revised to eliminate Catholicism's position as the only state religion of Italy, but the essential features of the agreement remain in force today. The Holy See — the headquarters of the Catholic Church which is housed in Vatican City — has diplomatic recognition from the overwhelming majority of countries in the world and has permanent observer status in numerous international organisations, including the United Nations General Assembly. Although there are apostolic nuncios (equivalent to ambassadors, also known as Papal nuncios or just nuncios) in many foreign capitals, due to its limited size the Vatican does not house any diplomatic missions; instead, foreign embassies to the Holy See are based in other parts of Rome. This means that Italy hosts its own Embassy of Italy to the Holy See. The diplomatic mission of the Holy See in a foreign country is known as an apostolic nunciature. According to an agreement between the Holy See and Italy, foreign missions to Italy are not allowed to double as missions to the Holy See. Therefore, many countries have two embassies in Rome: one to Italy and another to the Holy See. Other countries that maintain diplomatic relations with the Holy See but don't have a second embassy in Rome have their missions in another country (usually in Bern, Switzerland) double as representatives to the Holy See. The Vatican is between 19 m (62 ft) and 75 m (246 ft) above sea level. With a perimeter of only 3.2 km (2 mi), the Vatican City is not just the smallest country in the world, it's smaller than some shopping malls! Most of the area consists of the Vatican Gardens. Although 1,000 people live in Vatican City, many dignitaries, priests, nuns, guards, and 3,000 lay workers live outside the Vatican. It has about 800 citizens, making it the smallest nation by population on the globe. The Vatican fields a football team composed of members of the Swiss Guard, who hold dual citizenship. Inside the Vatican (2009) by Bart McDowell, National Geographic Society, ISBN 978-1426204500. A light run-through of the history of the Vatican, with a particular focus on some of the recent popes. It is illustrated with extensive photographs of the going-ons in this tiny country. Vatican City State website Vatican City is all that remains of the Papal States, the former temporal land holdings of the Pope. Over the years, this territory varied considerably in extent, and may be traced back to AD 756 with the "Donation of Pepin". However, the popes had been the de facto rulers of Rome and the surrounding province since the fall of the Roman Empire and the retreat of Byzantine power in Italy. 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 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, granted Roman Catholicism special status in Italy, recognised the full sovereignty of the Vatican and established its territorial extent. In 1984, the agreement was revised to eliminate Catholicism's position as the only state religion of Italy, but the essential features of the agreement remain in force today. The Holy See — the headquarters of the Catholic Church which is housed in Vatican City — has diplomatic recognition from the overwhelming majority of countries in the world and has permanent observer status in numerous international organisations, including the United Nations General Assembly. Although there are apostolic nuncios (equivalent to ambassadors, also known as Papal nuncios or just nuncios) in many foreign capitals, due to its limited size the Vatican does not house any diplomatic missions; instead, foreign embassies to the Holy See are based in other parts of Rome. This means that Italy hosts its own Embassy of Italy to the Holy See. The diplomatic mission of the Holy See in a foreign country is known as an apostolic nunciature. According to an agreement between the Holy See and Italy, foreign missions to Italy are not allowed to double as missions to the Holy See. Therefore, many countries have two embassies in Rome: one to Italy and another to the Holy See. Other countries that maintain diplomatic relations with the Holy See but don't have a second embassy in Rome have their missions in another country (usually in Bern, Switzerland) double as representatives to the Holy See.

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Civitas Vaticana - Città del Vaticano is the starting point of The Southern Way from Rome to Assisi and the ending point of The Via Francigena, From Firenze to Rome and From Assisi to Rome. You can reach Assisi in 13 days.