The Vatican City State is situated on the Vatican hill, on the right bank of the Tiber River, within the city of Rome.
Government
The pope has full legal, executive, and judicial powers. Executive power over the area is in the hands of a commission of cardinals appointed by the pope. The College of Cardinals is the pope's chief advisory body, and upon his death the cardinals elect his successor for life.
History
The word VATICAN is an ancient place-name of Etruscan origin. In pre-Christian times it was applied to a vast area of swampy land stretching between what is today Trastevere and Monte Mario. During the Imperial age, however, the area was transformed into sprawling parks, with huge arenas built for sporting events. In fact, what is now St.Peter's Square was probably a circus for chariot racing, and the sire where early Christians in the early part of the 4th Century, constructed a great basilica on the site of what is thought to be St. Peter's Tomb. The current St. Peter's, built during the 16th and 17th centuries, replaced that basilica.
The Vatican City State, sovereign and independent, is the survivor of the papal states that in 1859 comprised an area of some 17,000 sq mi (44,030 sq km). During the struggle for Italian unification, from 1860 to 1870, most of this area became part of Italy. By an Italian law of May 13, 1871, the temporal power of the pope was abrogated, and the territory of the papacy was confined to the Vatican and Lateran palaces and the villa of Castel Gandolfo. The popes consistently refused to recognize this arrangement. The Lateran Treaty of Feb. 11, 1929, between the Vatican and the kingdom of Italy, established the autonomy of the Holy See.
The first session of Ecumenical Council Vatican II was opened by John XXIII on Oct. 11, 1962, to plan and set policies for the modernization of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Paul VI continued the council, presiding over the last three sessions. Vatican II, as it is called, revolutionized some of the church's practices. Power was decentralized, giving bishops a larger role, the liturgy was vernacularized, and laymen were given a larger part in church affairs.
PONTIFICAL MONUMENTS, MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES
The first nucleus of the Vatican Museums was the collection of full-sized statues from Julius II displayed in the so-called "Courtyard of Statues", which today is known as the Octagonal Courtyard. These art collections are currently housed together and made available to the public in different buildings within the museum.
The Papal Museums and Galleries originated from the work of Clement XIV and Pius VI, and for this reason the name originally was the Pio Clementine Museum. Pius VII notably expanded it, adding the Chiaramonti Museum, the Braccio Nuovo and the Lapidary Gallery.
Gregory XVI founded:
the Etruscan Museum (1837) with relics recovered from excavations in southern Etruria beginning from 1828;
the Egyptian Museum (1839) with original Egyptian works from explorations in Egypt, as well as other pieces found in the classical art collection, in the Capitoline Museum and the Lateran Profane Museum (1844). These included bas-reliefs, statues, and mosaics of the Roman period that were not able to be placed in the Vatican Palaces.
In 1854 Pius IX added the Pio Christian Museum to the Lateran Profane Museum, which is made up of sculptures, especially sarcophagi, and ancient Christian inscriptions, and later adding two rooms of artifacts taken from the excavations of Ostia carried out in San Ercolano and San Aurea (1856-1869), as well as from Prince A. Torlonia in Porto in 1866. Under the pontificate of Saint Pius X, in 1910, a section was added containing 137 inscriptions from ancient Hebrew cemeteries in Rome, in a large part from the cemetery on Via Portuense, donated by the proprietors of the foundation of Marquees Pellegrini-Quarantotti. These two collections were transported, at the request of John XXIII, from the Lateran Palace to a new specially erected building in the Vatican; in 1970 these collections were reopened to the public, with the name Gregorian Profane Museum and Pio Christian Museum..
The Museum is made up of several other sections:
the Gallery of Tapestries, a collection of tapestries of different fabrics from the 16th and 17th centuries;
the Gallery of Maps, instituted by Gregory XIII and restored by Urban VIII;
the Sobieski Room as well as the Room of the Immaculate Conception;
the Stanze and the Loggia of Raphael, commissioned by Julius II and Leon X;
the Chapel of Nicholas V, painted by Fra Angelico;
the Sistine Chapel, named for its founder, Sixtus IV;
the Borgia Apartment, home of Alexander VI, restored and opened to the public by Leon XIII in 1897;
the Vatican Picture Gallery, placed in the Borgia Apartment under Pius VII , then in the Third Loggia by Gregory XIII. In 1909 it was taken by Saint Pius X to the Gallery underneath the wing of the Library that faces the gardens, and finally put in a special building by Pius XI in 1932;
the Missionary Ethnological Museum was founded by Pius XI in 1926, and arranged in the upper floors of the Lateran Palace; it was later transported, at the request of John XXIII, into the Vatican, where it was reopened to the public in the same building that housed other collections formerly of the Lateran Palace. In 1973 the Collection of Modern Religious Art was added, and inaugurated by Paul VI on June 23 of that year.
The Historical Museum, founded also in 1973, was transferred to the Papal Apartment of the Lateran Palace in 1987, where a collection of portraits of the Popes was included; the relics of the Pontifical Military Corps as well as artifacts from the Pontifical Chapel and Family were added. And finally, a documentation of ceremonies which are no longer in use, are stored as well in this section. The Carriage Museum, a section of the Historical Museum was also set up by Paul VI in 1973 and houses the Popes' carriages and automobiles.
Before the Lateran Accords, the Pontifical Museums and Galleries were part of the SS. PP AA. Prefecture; since 1929 they have been placed under the Governatorate of the Vatican City State.
Musei Vaticani e Cappella Sistina Viale Vaticano - 00165
00120 Città del Vaticano
Tel. 06.69884947 - Fax 06.69885061
Dal 1° aprile al 31 ottobre: 8.45-16.45
Dal 1° novembre al 31 marzo: 8.45-13.45
Chiusi tutte le domeniche eccetto l'ultima del mese, nella quale i Musei sono aperti con ingresso libero.From April 1 to October 31: 8.45-16.45
From November 1 to March 31: 8.45-13.45
Closed all Sundays and holidays, except for the last Sunday of the month when the Musei are open with free admission.
Sistine Chapel
Built between 1475 and 1483, in the time of Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere, the Sistine Chapel has originally served as Palatine Chapel. The chapel is rectangular in shape and measures 40.93 meters long by 13.41 meters wide, i.e. the exact dimensions of the Temple of Solomon, as given in the Old Testament. It is 20.70 meters high and is roofed by a flattened barrel vault, with little side vaults over the centered windows.
The architectural plans were made by Baccio Pontelli and the construction work was supervised by Giovannino de' Dolci. The first Mass in the Sistine Chapel was celebrated on August 9, 1483.
The wall paintings were executed by Pietro Perugino, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Cosimo Rosselli, Luca Signorelli and their respective workshops, which included Pinturicchio, Piero di Cosimo and Bartolomeo della Gatta.
Michelangelo Buonarroti was commissioned by Pope Julius II della Rovere in 1508 to repaint the ceiling; the work was completed between 1508 and 1512. He painted the Last Judgement over the altar, between 1535 and 1541, being commissioned by Pope Paul III Farnese.
Info
Business & Foreign Trade
Prefettura degli Affairi Economici della Sante Sede
Prefecture of the Economic Affairs of the Holy See Palazzo delle Congregazioni
Largo del Colonnato 3
00193 Rome
Italy
Tel: (+39) 0669884263
Fax: (+39) 0669885011
E-Mail:
Internet: http://www.vatican.va/
Cultural Associations & Organizations
Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura
Pontifical Council for Culture 00120 Città del Vaticano
Vatican
Tel: (+39) 0669887177, 0669887321, 0669887393
Fax: (+39) 0669887165, 0669887368
E-Mail:
Internet: http://www.vatican.va/
Direzione Generale di Monumenti Musei e Gallerie Pontificie
General Direction of Monuments and Museums Palazzo San Carlo
00120 Città del Vaticano
Vatican
Tel: (+39) 0669883332/3 office
Tel: (+39) 0669884587 information
Fax: (+39) 0669885061 office
Fax: (+39) 0669885100 information
E-Mail:
Internet: http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV-Home.html
Servizio Accoglienza Centrale Piazza San Marcello 4
00187 Rome
Italy
Tel: (+39) 06696221
Fax: (+39) 0669622388
E-Mail:
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana 00120 Città del Vaticano
Vatican
Tel: (+39) 0669885051, 0669879403
Fax: (+39) 0669884795
E-Mail:
Internet: http://www.vatican.va/
Other Relevant Institutions & Organizations
Segreteria di Stato Palazzo Apostolico Vaticano
00120 Città del Vaticano
Vatican
Tel: (+39) 0669883438
Fax: (+39) 0669885088
E-Mail:
Internet: http://www.vatican.va/
Pontificia Università Lateranense Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano 4
00120 Città del Vaticano
Vatican
Tel: (+39) 0669886401
Fax: (+39) 0669886508
E-Mail:
Internet: http://www.pul.it
Pontificio Consiglio per il Dialogo Inter-Religioso
Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue 00120 Città del Vaticano
Vatican
Tel: (+39) 0669883648
Fax: (+39) 0669884494
E-Mail:
Internet: http://www.vatican.va/
Pontificia Accademia delle Schienze
Pontifical Academy for Science of the Holy See Casina Pio IV
00120 Città del Vaticano
Vatican
Tel: (+39) 0669883195
Fax: (+39) 0669885218
E-Mail:
Internet: http://www.vatican.va/
Pontificia Accademia per la Vita
Pontifical Academy for Life Via della Conciliazione 3
00193 Rome
Italy
Tel: (+39) 0669882423
Fax: (+39) 0669882014
Internet: http://www.vatican.va
Instituto per le Opere de Religione 00120 Città del Vaticano
Vatican
Tel: (+39) 0669883354
Fax: (+39) 0669883809
Internet: http://www.vatican.va/
Uffici Sala Stama delle Santa Sede Palazzo dei Propilei
Via della Conciliazione 54
00120 Città del Vaticano
Vatican
Tel: (+39) 06698921
Fax: (+39) 0669892426
E-Mail:
Internet: http://www.vatican.va/
Internet Office of the Holy See Cortile del Triangolo
00120 Città del Vaticano
Vatican
Tel: (+39) 0669882354
Fax: (+39) 0669882067
E-Mail:
Internet: http://www.vatican.va/
Caritas Internationalis Palazzo San Calisto
00120 Città del Vaticano
Vatican
Tel: (+39) 0669879799
Fax: (+39) 0669887237
E-Mail: caritas@
Internet: http://www.caritas.org
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Guest House in Italy Live your dreams in Italy. Book your holiday and organize your weekend. Farmhouses, bed and breakfasts, country houses, villas, castles, apartments, and thermal springs. Discover our culture, art, Cuisine and tradition. Come to Italy!