The smallest sovereign state in the world (just 0.44 square kilometers), the Vatican sits atop the lower reaches of Vatican Hill not too far west of the Tiber River. Focusing its attention on the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica and Piazza San Pietro, it is known to travelers as the capital of Catholicism. Created under the terms of the Lateran Treaty of 1929, the Vatican City State is the only modern remnant of the Papal States .
For more than a thousand years, the Papal States in Rome encompassed much of central Italy, but when Italy was unified in 1861 and Rome fell in 1870, Pope Pius IX was forced to give up the last of his territorial possessions. Relations between Italy and the landless papacy remained tense until Mussolini and Pope Pius XI agreed to form the Vatican State in 1929.
Under the terms of the Lateran Treaty , extraterritorial authority was granted to the Holy See. As an independent state, the Vatican has its own postal service, coins, newspapers, radio stations and its own army. The flashy dressed Swiss Guards were "created" in 1506 by Julius II to defend the Papal States against invading armies and are still directly responsible for the personal security of the Pope today .
Essential during your visit to the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel , which were commissioned by Pope Eugene III in the 12th century. Later Popes have been fortifying and decorating the area according to their political and artistic whims. St. Peter’s Basilica is almost completely rebuilt, but many of the best artists of all time have passed through it: Bramante, Rafael, Antonio da Sangallo, Michelangelo, Giacomo della Porta, etc.