The Vatican, or the Holy See, also the Vatican City State (Latin Status Civitatis Vaticanae, Italian Stato della Città del Vaticano) is the residence of the Pope, the territory of the Holy See (St. Peter's Throne), the central body of the Catholic Church. City-state. The world's smallest independent state, an enclave in the middle of Rome in Italy. The Vatican is also an administrative organization that helps it run the Church (also called the Roman Curia). For Christians, the Vatican gained importance even at the dawn of Christianity due to the fact that, according to traditions, it was there in 67 AD. was crucified St. Peter It is located on the Vatican Hill (Mons Vaticanus), so called in pre-Christian times, and on the Vatican Fields (north of the hill on which St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums are built). The Vatican is famous for its painting and architecture, its most magnificent building is St. Peter's Basilica, built on the tomb of the first Pope. Saint Peter's Basilica, however, is not the main church. The main temple of Rome is the Basilica of St. John on the Lateran Hill. It was from here that the Pope ruled the Church during the Middle Ages. The most outstanding work of art is the Sistine Chapel frescoes by Michelangelo. Over the centuries, a huge art collection was gathered, which is now exhibited in the Vatican Museums. The second gem of the Vatican is its library.
In antiquity, the territory of the Vatican (lat. ager vaticanus) was not inhabited, because in ancient Rome this place was considered holy. In 326, after the advent of Christianity, the Basilica of Constantine was built over the hypothetical tomb of St. Peter, and the place has been inhabited ever since. The Papal State, formed in the 8th century with the support of Charlemagne on the basis of the legend of the gift of Constantine, existed in a fairly large size until 1870, when the modern state of Italy was formed, and Rome became its capital. At its peak at the beginning of the 16th century, the papal state included the duchies of Padua, Piacenza, Modena, Romagna, Urbino, Spoleto and Castro, the Marche of Ancona and the provinces of Bologna, Perugia and Orvietano. In 1929, it was restored in its current size after Mussolini's Lateran Agreement with Pope Pius XI. On June 7, 1929, an agreement between Italy and the Holy See was ratified, according to which the Vatican State was formed and the constitution of this country was published.