📖 Introduction

The Vatican is an extraordinary microstate—the smallest in the world. Spanning less than a quarter of a square mile, it’s home to fewer than 1,000 people.

It is an absolute monarchy led by the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church. The Vatican has its own currency, postal service, train station, newspaper, and television station. For centuries, Latin has been its official language.

Remarkably, the Vatican also maintains a military unit—the Swiss Guard—which has served the papacy continuously since 1506. It was then that 150 Swiss mercenaries arrived to protect Pope Julius II and his successors. Their loyalty was proven just 20 years later during the “Sack of Rome,” when 147 guards lost their lives. To honor their sacrifice, new members of the Swiss Guard are sworn in annually on May 6, the anniversary of the event.

Eligible candidates for the Guard must be unmarried Catholic men from Switzerland, aged 19–30, who have completed military service in their home country. They must also meet a minimum height requirement of 174 cm (5’8”). Today, the Swiss Guard comprises 135 soldiers.

Historically, Vatican Hill was regarded as a mystical site. It attracted soothsayers and magicians who foretold the future, often by interpreting the flight patterns of birds. Some scholars believe the name “Vatican” is derived from the Latin word vaticinor, meaning “to prophesy” or “to predict.

The First Christians

For Catholics, Vatican Hill became sacred in the 1st century AD, as the site of martyrdom in Nero’s Circus. This massive hippodrome, begun by Emperor Caligula in AD 40 and completed two decades later by Nero, was adorned with an obelisk transported from Alexandria. Originally erected on the Julian Forum during Augustus’s reign. This same obelisk now stands in St. Peter’s Square, repositioned, blessed by Pope Sixtus V, and sanctified with a relic of the Holy Cross. For over 2,000 years, it has silently witnessed the history of this place.

Christians were blamed for the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64 and became victims of brutal persecution in Nero’s circus. Among the victims was St. Peter the Apostle, the first Bishop of Rome. He was later crucified near the circus, upside down at his own request, feeling unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus. Peter was buried in a humble necropolis across Via Cornelia, a road running alongside the circus. This burial site corresponds to the present-day southern part of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pilgrimages to St. Peter’s tomb began shortly after his death, but by the 4th century, they grew into waves of faithful visitors. Despite the journey’s dangers, length, and exhaustion, pilgrims continued to come, and their numbers steadily increased, giving rise to a unique pilgrimage culture in Rome. Hostels, shelters, markets, and inns began to spring up around the basilica to accommodate these travelers.

The Christian legacy imbued Rome with special significance, particularly after the Roman Empire’s capital moved to Constantinople. Successive popes and bishops of Rome defended the belief that the Vatican was the “Rock” upon which Jesus commanded His Church to be built. Here lay the tomb of St. Peter, sanctified by the blood of Christian martyrs, affirming Rome’s place as the heart of the faith.

The Old Basilica

Later referred to as the “Old” St. Peter’s Basilica, it was built between AD 319 and 333. The structure was over 103 meters (338 feet) long and 64 meters (210 feet) wide, and it was said to be stunningly beautiful. The entrance was preceded by a staircase that pilgrims would ascend on their knees, holding candles. Its atrium, a courtyard surrounded by a colonnade, was adorned with exotic plants symbolizing earthly paradise, while the basilica itself represented heavenly paradise. At the center of the atrium was a fountain whose water was used for ritual purification before entering the basilica. Inside, most of the popes from St. Peter to the 15th century were buried.

The basilica fell into disrepair during the period of the so-called “Avignon Papacy.” This was a time of conflict between the papacy and the French king, during which seven consecutive popes (from 1309 to 1376) left Rome and resided in Avignon. In the mid-15th century, plans were made to repair and expand the basilica, but they were never realized. Ultimately, Pope Julius II decided to demolish the old basilica and construct a new one that would symbolize the power of the Church and Rome. The cornerstone for the new basilica was personally laid by Julius II on April 18, 1506.

The Basilica

The first architect of St. Peter’s Basilica was Donato Bramante. Both he and the Pope knew this monumental project would span several generations. Among the brilliant architects who contributed to its construction were Michelangelo, Raphael, and Giacomo della Porta. The basilica was inaugurated and consecrated by Pope Urban VIII Barberini on November 18, 1626.

For centuries, it was the largest church in the world. Today, it ranks second, following the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire. Covering around 22,000 square meters (5.4 acres) and measuring 211.5 meters (694 feet) in length (including the vestibule). It can accommodate up to 60,000 worshippers. To give visitors a sense of scale, marble markers on the floor indicate where other famous churches would end if placed inside.

The facade, designed and completed by Carlo Maderno in 1612, was initially criticized for being too wide and blocking the view of the dome. To address this, Maderno proposed adding two towers to balance the structure. However, he passed away before their completion. Construction of the towers revealed instability in the ground beneath—an area once filled with necropolises—which led to cracks in the facade. The two smaller bell towers were finished earlier, and in 1790 Giuseppe Valadier added clocks to them.

Above the entrance, an inscription reads:
“IN HONOREM PRINCIPIS APOST PAVLVS V BVRGHESIVS ROMANVS PONT MAX AN MDCXII PONT VII”
(“In honor of the Prince of Apostles, Paul V Borghese, Roman Pontiff, in the year 1612, the seventh year of his pontificate”).

Below it are nine balconies, with the central one known as the “Blessing Loggia”, from which the newly elected Pope delivers the Urbi et Orbi (“To the City and the World”) blessing. At the top stand 13 statues of Jesus, John the Baptist, and the Apostles, excluding St. Peter and Judas.

The basilica has five doors. The far-left Door of Death earned its name from the tradition of funeral processions exiting through it. Next is the Door of Good and Evil, followed by the central Filarete Doors, the oldest, transferred from the old basilica. Then comes the Door of Sacraments, and finally, the Holy Door, opened only once every 25 years during a Holy Year—a time of special grace for the faithful. The first Holy Year was proclaimed in 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII. Originally intended as an event every hundred years. It was first repeated at intervals of 50 and then 33 years – the presumed age of Jesus at his death. The rhythm of 25 years has existed since 1475. Traditionally, the door was bricked up, symbolizing human sin, with its removal representing spiritual cleansing.

St. Peter’s Square

St. Peter’s Square is the grand stage of Baroque Vatican architecture. Its monumental design, created after the completion of the new basilica, is the work of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who worked on the project between 1656 and 1667 under Pope Alexander VII Chigi.

The square features two colonnades of four rows each, made up of 284 columns and 88 pilasters. The columns are slightly uneven in width, creating an optical illusion that makes them difficult to count from any vantage point. Bernini’s use of perspective is masterful, requiring great precision and effort, particularly given the limitations of the surrounding structures at the time. He described the colonnade as the Church’s maternal arms, open to embrace the faithful.

Atop the colonnade are 140 statues of bishops, saints, and martyrs, each about 10 feet tall. While Bernini did not sculpt them himself, they were created under his direction by his students and collaborators.

At the center of the square stands the obelisk, originally from Nero’s Circus. It was relocated to its current position in 1586 by the skilled architect Domenico Fontana, following orders from Pope Sixtus V. Bernini used the obelisk as the central axis for his elliptical design.

Flanking the obelisk are two symmetrical fountains. 120 years later, during the square’s reconstruction, architect Carlo Maderno turned the upper bowl of the fountain.  This gave it a shape that symbolically resembled the basilica’s dome or a cardinal’s hat, while also creating a water jet that rose 26 feet high. The second fountain, a replica by Bernini known as the Fountain of the Four Popes, was added during the redesign. The two fountains differ slightly in detail, such as the papal crests.

Between 1724 and 1730, the square was paved with black basalt from quarries near Castelli Romani.

Every Sunday at noon, the square fills with worshippers for the Angelus prayer led by the Pope, who appears in a window of the Apostolic Palace on the right. On Wednesdays, a general audience is held, requiring free tickets for entry.