In this article, we will tell you 10 facts about the miniature state – Vatican. Vatican is territorially located in Rome, the capital of Italy. The area is slightly less than half a square kilometer, and the total length of the Vatican borders is 3 kilometers and 200 meters, which makes it the smallest country in the world.
1. How did the Vatican City State come into being? It wasn't always so small. The Vatican dates back to 752, when the Papal States was created, located in part of modern Italy, and lasted until 1860. It was led by the Pope himself. So, in 1860, the lands of the Papal States were captured by the Kingdom of Italy, and the Italian king himself demanded that the Pope recognize his actions as legal. To which the latter responded with a categorical refusal and remained in the capital, calling himself a "prisoner of the Vatican." The rulers of the Kingdom of Italy, fearing the reaction of the rest of the Catholic world, did not dare to seize the Vatican by force, but simply stationed troops around it and waited for the Pope to change his mind. As a result, the Holy See was "under siege" for almost 60 years, Popes changed, but the Vatican did not change its mind. This continued until 1927, when Italian dictator Benito Mussolini declared the Vatican a sovereign state ruled by the Pope, giving him land, and in return, the Holy See began to support Mussolini. This is a very simplified and brief history of the Vatican, but you get the idea.
2. The Vatican will never be accepted into the European Union. Although it is located on the territory of Italy, a member of the EU, its theocratic structure contradicts the main criterion of the European Union when accepting new countries - a democratic system. Although the Vatican is not a member of the EU, it is very closely connected to it, for example, the official currency is the euro, and there is no border between the Vatican and Italy.
3. About 1,000 people live permanently in this small country, but many more work there – about three thousand. Most of them are Italians who work in the Vatican during the day, for example, in museums, and live in Rome. All people who live in the Vatican permanently are its citizens and servants of the Holy See.
4. An unusual fact: there are no women among the citizens of the Vatican. In world practice, in most cases, citizenship is obtained either by "inheriting" from parents or by being born on the territory of this country. Since the citizens of the Vatican are only men, a special state body is engaged in issuing citizenship. Citizenship can be obtained either by Catholic priests or soldiers of the Swiss Guard - the personal guard of the Pope, but sometimes this can be done by laymen who hold certain positions at the Holy See. One way or another, all citizens must participate in the service of the See, and when a person leaves the service, he also loses citizenship. With all this, it is not at all necessary to renounce your previous citizenship, many ministers have two or even more passports.
5. The Vatican, as the seat of the Catholic Church, only in 1992 recognized the rotation of the Earth around the Sun. In his address, Pope John Paul II expressed regrets towards Galileo Galilei, calling the overly straightforward interpretation of the Bible by the ministers of the church of that time a mistake, as a result of which the latter was declared a heretic and was forced to renounce his thoughts. The Pope also called Galileo one of the greatest scientists in history. However, the Catholic Church has still not rehabilitated Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the stake on charges of heresy by the church, for the fact that he, in particular, shared Galileo's thoughts on the structure of space.
6. Despite such historically strange relations between the Vatican and astronomy, the Holy See has its own observatory. It is located in the United States, in Arizona. The observatory contains a very powerful telescope, and it is designed to study celestial bodies.
7. Like other independent states, the Vatican has established diplomatic relations with other countries and has embassies of these countries. However, the territory of the Vatican is so small that there was simply no room for them there, they are all located on the territory of Italy. Even the Italian embassy in the Vatican is located in Italy, which makes this fact unique in world diplomatic practice.
8. The Vatican has its own football team. It consists of museum curators, guards, and members of the papal council. The team has even played 4 international matches. There is even a stadium on the territory of the Vatican, but it can only accommodate a small number of spectators, so it is more often used for training than for matches.
9. The Vatican has the only ATM in the world that has an interface in addition to English and Italian, in the “dead” Latin language.
10. The Vatican compiles a rating of the most beautiful young Catholic priests. Calendars with their photos are released, which can be purchased by a tourist for 15 euros. Surely, such a calendar will be an excellent souvenir for Catholic women.
