"Keeweechic's Vatican Ctiy" a Vatican City Travel Page by keeweechic

Vatican City State (Holy See) is located not far from Tiber River in Rome. The state's territory is the smallest in the world with an area of nearly 44 hectares. Vatican Hill lies between Monte Mario and the Janiculum and in the 1st century B.C. it was the site of Caligula’s circuls where Nero had hundreds of Christians martyred some years later. Originally, the official residence of the bishops of Rome was not the Vatican, but the Lateran Palace which was donated to the Roman Church. St. Peter's was then a basilica reserved for burials. The first to build at the Vatican was Pope Symmachus in 501. He built two Episcopal residences at the sides of the basilica. In 781 Charlemagne altered, for his own use, a palace standing to the north of the basilica. Eugene III built a "new palace", which Innocent III enlarged and then enclosed within turreted walls. Nicholas III was the first pope to adopt the Vatican as his permanent residence. The military character of these early buildings is testament as an emergency refuge by the popes.

The population of the Vatican City State is made up of mainly Italians who have Vatican citizenship or are authorised to reside there while preserving their original citizenship. The Vatican City State is recognised by the international community as a legal sovereign body. Although St. Peter's Square lies within Vatican City, it is normally open to the public and comes under Italian police authority.