VATICAN CITY (Città del Vaticano)
- St Peter's Basilica, Piazza San Pietro, Views from the dome

A part of Rome, called Vatican City, is an independent country - actually the world's smallest country with only 828 inhabitants on 44 hectares! Vatican City (Città del Vaticano), a papal enclave and country since 1929, is the headquarters of the Catholic church and the residence of the catholic popes. It is completely surrounded by high walls. This is where the world's second largest church, the huge St Peter's Basilica is, and where the pope and the catholic church has their headquarters. The river Tiber (Fiume Tevere) is flowing through the city center, dividing Rome into two parts, with the historical core, Centro Storico, with all its sights to the East and the part where you find the Vatican City and Castello Sant Angelo to the West. Via della Conciliazione is the avenue that leads towards the border of Vatican City in front of St Peter's Square. Via Crescenzio connects the Vatican with Piazza Cavour.

St Peter's Basilica (Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano). This late renaissance church was for many years the largest church in the world (now beaten by more modern churches), and is considered to be the greatest church of Christianity and took over 100 years to create by the world's leading architects. It was inaugurated in November 1626. It is 133m to the top of the dome, that makes it the second tallest building in Rome (after Torre Eurosky from 2012), but tallest in central Rome and the Vatican City. Inside St Peter's Basilica all popes are buried, and it's huge dome was decorated by Michelangelo, where rays of sunlights are reaching down to the floor. There are alot of sculptures by Bernini. The interior is huge with marble sculptures of important catholic persons, marble floor and paintings, and the ceiling of the dome can be seen from the ground. People look down on the floor from terraces. In the cellar you find the tomb of St Peter and some other popes. On the ground floor you find the tomb of John Paul II, as well as the bodies of some popes. The tomb of Alexander VII can lso be found here, as well as Michelangelo's famous Jesus and Mary sculpture "Pieta". There is also a sculpture of Queen Christina of Sweden, who converted into catholicism and abandoned the royal family. There is an outdoor observation deck on top of the dome, that can be a pain to reach (more about that further below). There is also one inside the top of the dome that looks down on the floor and the interior of the church.

St Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro) is the circular square in front of St Peter's Basilica. The Tuscan colonnades, arcades with rows of columns on both sides are the borders between Vatican City and Italy. They are completely open with no border controls, but if you want to enter st Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel or the museums you have to enter through a security scan, though you won't need to show any ID. Sometimes the pope make speeches at the auditorium in front of the basilica. They were designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.An Egyptian obelisk from the Circus of Nero was erected at the center of the square in 1586. Two fountains, designed by Bernini and Carlo Maderno, where placed on the square in the 1600s. The Papal Palace, Palace of the Vatican or Apostolic Palace, is where the popes reside, inside the Papal Apartments. The building also houses the Vatican Museums, the Vatican library, the Borgia Apartments and last but not leastthe Sistine Chapel, that is famous for it's ceiling with the painting The Last Judgment by Michelangelo. The famous Swiss Guards, soldiers from Switzerland who has served as guards at foreign European courts since the late 15th century, can be seen at the gates to the Vatican. Palazzo del Governatorato, Radio Vaticano, Palazzo del Sant'Uffizio (Palace of the Holy Office) and Vatican Museums are other important buildings. The West part of the Vatican conist of a large park, Vatican Gardens with a hill above.

We visited the Vatican City twice; first we visited St Peter's Basilica and the viewing deck on top of the dome, and wanted to go to the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum. But it was closed so we returned too days later and stayed in the hour long line for a second time just to see it, just to be told that it is not open on Sundays when we entered! (The opening hours couldn't be found in my guide books unfortunately.) It is not a great loss for World Travel Images though, as photographing is not allowed in the Sistine Chapel, it is allowed in St Peter's Basilica though. A strange thing that happen was when I photographed St Veronica by Francesco Mochi. It was pretty weird to discover that this photo was completey black, despite there was no absence of light at the spot! Climbing St Peter's Basilica demands that you are in a good condition, with all it's steep stairs, sometimes with only a rope that you can hold on to to prevent you from falling down! But it is worth it, since it is the highest building in Rome and offers great views! There is an elevator that goes only 1/3 of the way and cost, so it is better to climb all the way. The first part of the stairways goes up to a narrow path that surrounds the cupola, where you can look down on the floor of the church. Before climbing the second part goes you go out on the terrace on the roof, and then into a door that leads inside the dome. This part of the stairs are leaning in a diagonal way, since they are situted inside the roof of the dome!