page_title: Vatican City
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Vatican City / Geography
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Karte der Vatikanstadt (aus dem Annex der Lateranverträge) dunkelgrau: Territorium der Vatikanstadt hellgrau (Petersplatz): Territorium der Vatikanstadt; Sicherheitsagenden an italienische Sicherheitskräfte delegiert (jederzeit widerrufbar). rot: Der schmale Streifen (ca. 3 m breit und 60 m lang) entlang der Außenseite der rechten (d.&#160;h. nördlichen) Kolonnade Berninis ist nach den Lateranverträgen italienisches Territorium und unterliegt der italienischen Jurisdiktion. Diese Tatsache wurde von einer gemischten vatikanisch-italienischen Kommission, die bis 1932 tagte und welche die technischen Details der Verträge präzisierte, bestritten. Da diese Kommission jedoch von italienischen Seite nicht mit hochrangigen Juristen beschickt wurde und darüber hinaus nur beratende Funktion innehatte, wird die rechtliche Relevanz dieses Standpunktes von Italien nicht anerkannt. blau umrandet: Das blauumrandete Gebiet ist zwar italienisches Territorium, steht jedoch im Besitz des Heiligen Stuhls und genießt exterritorialen Status (vergleichbar mit ausländischen Botschaften). Es untersteht nicht der italienischen Jurisdiktion. Sonstiges: Das hellgraue Areal südlich des vatikanischen Bahnhofs (stazione) wurde laut Notiz links unten auf der Karte als "Fläche auf italienischem Territorium zur Versorgung des Bahnhofs" eingefärbt (dieser Bereich wurde in einer Karte der Gazetta Ufficiale von 1929 nicht hellgrau unterlegt). Möglicherweise wurde es dem Heiligen Stuhl aus dem genannten Grund als exterritoriale Besitzung auf italienischem Boden (eine Quelle weist es als solches aus) zur Verfügung gestellt. English: Boundary map taken from the annex of the Lateran treaties. Colored areas are modifications of original image for purposes of clarification. dark grey: territory of Vatican City. light grey: territory of Vatican City. Security dispositive of Italy. Free access to public and to Italian police authorities may be revoked at any time for special ceremonial occasions. red: The small strip (3 m wide, 60 m long) alongside the northern colonnade is - according to the Lateran treaties - Italian territory and underlies Italian jurisdiction. This fact has been disputed by the mixed Italian-Vatican commission which was in place until 1932 to refine and detail the findings of the treaties. Since this commission had only a consultatory status Italy does not recognize any legal relevance of this dispute. blue zone: territory of Italy, but in possession of the Holy See. The area has extraterritorial status and Italian jurisdiction is not applied. The area contains the seat of the en:Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the bigger part of the en:Paul VI Audience Hall, the Campo Santo Teutonico and the German College. other: The light grey area next to the station has evidently been added in by mistake and is Italian territory. Français&#160;: gris foncé: territoire de plein-droit de l'état du Saint-Siège. gris clair: territoire de l'état du Saint-Siège où s'appliquent les dispositifs de sécurité de l'Italie. Le libre accès du public et de la police italienne peut être suspendu à tout moment en cas de cérémonies et autres occasions spéciales. Ce statut est valide pour la Place Saint-Pierre mais non pour la zone située à la sortie du chemin de fer au niveau de la gare, qui n'a finalement pas été concédée à l'État du Vatican dans la version définitive du traité. rouge: une bande de territoire large de 3m et longue de 60m le long des colonnes du nord est territoire italien selon le traité, mais jusqu'en 1932 ce fait est contesté par la partie vaticane dans la commission mixte italo-vaticane pour la délimitation. Cette commission n'a qu'un statut consultatif. L'Italie rejette toute contestation et ne reconnaît pas qu'il existerait une dispute. Toutefois de facto c'est l'État du Vatican qui administre ce territoire. liséré bleu: territoire italien, propriété du Saint-Siège bénéficiant du statut d'exterritorialité. La juridiction italienne ne s'y applique pas. Ces bâtiments abritent la Congrégation pour la Doctrine de la Foi (ex-Inquisition), la plus grande partie de la salle d'audience du pape Paul VI et les bureaux de l'Ordre Teutonique. Română: gri închis: teritoriu al Vaticanului în plină suveranitate. gri deschis: teritoriu al Vaticanului, în care pot fi aplicate dispozitivele de securitate ale Italiei. Accesul liber pentru public și pentru poliția italiană poate fi suspendat oricând pentru ocazii ceremoniale speciale. roșu: O mică fâșie (lată de 3m, lungă de 60m) de-alungul coloanelor nordice este - în conformitate cu tratatul - teritoriu italian sub jurisdicție italiană, dar este administrat de fapt de Vatican. Fâșia a fost disputată în comisiile mixte italo-vaticane până în 1932 pentru detalierea frontierelor. Deoarece comisia a avut doar statut consultativ, Italia nu recunoaște din punct de vedere legal această dispută. zona albastră: teritoriu italian, proprietate a Sfântulu Scaun. Zona are statut extrateritorial și nu se aplică jurisdicția italiană&#160;: ea conține biroul Congregației pentru doctrina credinței (fosta Inchiziție), partea cea mare a sălii de audiență a papei Paul VI, colegiul german și birourile Ordinului Teutonic. altele: zona gri deschis dinafara zidurilor cetății, în dreptul gării, a fost inițial prevăzută ca teritoriu al Vaticanului, dar în versiunea finală a tratatului este teritoriu italian.
context_page_description: Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State, is the Holy See's independent city-state enclaved within Rome, Italy. Vatican City became independent from Italy with the Lateran Treaty, and it is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See, itself a sovereign entity of international law, which maintains the city state's temporal, diplomatic, and spiritual independence. With an area of 49 hectares and a population of about 805, it is the smallest sovereign state in the world by both area and population.
  As governed by the Holy See, the Vatican City is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the pope who is the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various national origins. After the Avignon Papacy, the popes have mainly resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere.
context_section_description: The name "Vatican" was already in use in the time of the Roman Republic for the Ager Vaticanus, a marshy area on the west bank of the Tiber across from the city of Rome, located between the Janiculum, the Vatican Hill and Monte Mario, down to the Aventine Hill and up to the confluence of the Cremera creek. The territory of Vatican City is part of the Vatican Hill, and of the adjacent former Vatican Fields. It is in this territory that St. Peter's Basilica, the Apostolic Palace, the Sistine Chapel, and museums were built, along with various other buildings. The area was part of the Roman rione of Borgo until 1929. Being separated from the city, on the west bank of the river Tiber, the area was an outcrop of the city that was protected by being included within the walls of Leo IV (847–855), and later expanded by the current fortification walls, built under Paul III (1534–1549), Pius IV (1559–1565), and Urban VIII (1623–1644).
  When the Lateran Treaty of 1929 that gave the state its form was being prepared, the boundaries of the proposed territory were influenced by the fact that much of it was all but enclosed by this loop. For some tracts of the frontier, there was no wall, but the line of certain buildings supplied part of the boundary, and for a small part of the frontier a modern wall was constructed.
  The territory includes St. Peter's Square, distinguished from the territory of Italy only by a white line along the limit of the square, where it touches Piazza Pio XII. St. Peter's Square is reached through the Via della Conciliazione which runs from close to the Tiber to St. Peter's. This grand approach was constructed by Benito Mussolini after the conclusion of the Lateran Treaty.
  According to the Lateran Treaty, certain properties of the Holy See that are located in Italian territory, most notably the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo and the major basilicas, enjoy extraterritorial status similar to that of foreign embassies. These properties, scattered all over Rome and Italy, house essential offices and institutions necessary to the character and mission of the Holy See.
  Castel Gandolfo and the named basilicas are patrolled internally by police agents of Vatican City State and not by Italian police. According to the Lateran Treaty (Art. 3) St. Peter's Square, up to but not including the steps leading to the basilica, is normally patrolled by the Italian police.
  There are no passport controls for visitors entering Vatican City from the surrounding Italian territory. There is free public access to Saint Peter's Square and Basilica and, on the occasion of papal general audiences, to the hall in which they are held. For these audiences and for major ceremonies in Saint Peter's Basilica and Square, tickets free of charge must be obtained beforehand. The Vatican Museums, incorporating the Sistine Chapel, usually charge an entrance fee. There is no general public access to the gardens, but guided tours for small groups can be arranged to the gardens and excavations under the basilica. Other places are open to only those individuals who have business to transact there.
caption: Territory of Vatican City State according to the Lateran Treaty
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "96", "Image YResolution": "96", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2014:07:25 18:49:50", "Image ExifOffset": "164", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "302", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5549", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1024", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "818"}