Vatican

While staying in Rome for eight weeks, I have visited many sites, but today I visited the Vatican which was one of the most beautiful and massive sites I have ever seen. The Vatican is a city within a city. The Vatican has its own rules apart from Rome which was interesting to learn while studying abroad. This capital city of Rome consists of about one hundred and ten acres and has a population of about eight hundred people.
The Vatican has dated back at least 2000 years ago in 326 AD when St. Peter was buried underneath Vatican City. St Peters was also known to be crucified upside down in the center of The Vatican where the Circus of Nero obelisk stands today. The reason behind the name of the obelisk is the fact that before the Vatican City was established it was a location of the Roman Emperor Nero Circus.
I had also learned that in 1929 the Lateran Treaty formed this city-state. Vatican City was formed and was ruled by the Pope just like its own city. The Pope still lives in the vicinity of the Vatican City to this day. The Basilica that now stands in the Vatican City today was built over St. Peter’s tomb in 326 AD. After the Basilica was built, Vatican City started to become and form into its own city that was ruled by the Pope. Other church duties and buildings were formed around the Vatican. The duties of the Pope and the Catholic Church went largely unrecognized.
The Vatican City is extremely beautiful and is usually filled with many tourists interested in seeing the same city-state in which you are interested in. There are no words to describe the massiveness of this site. One of the greatest things about Rome is that when you are at any higher elevation within the city you can usually always see the St. Peters Dome which is one of the biggest parts of Vatican City.


"History of Vatican City." Rome Italy: Travel Guide to Rome & Italy. Web. 1 Dec. 2009. .