Vatican City

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The Vatican City State is situated on the right bank of the River Tiber and includes a slight elevation, a part of which was known in ancient times as the Vatican Hills. Caligula constructed his private circus there in the 1st century AD and it became the scene of early Christian martyrdoms. There is an underground necropolis in which the presumed tomb of St Peter was found in the 1940s. Between 324 and 325 AD the Roman Emperor Constantine erected an imposing basilica over the site of this tomb. The present Basilica of St. Peter – the largest church in Christendom – was built in the 16th century on the same site and the main altar is situated directly over the presumed tomb of St Peter.

Until 1871, the Popes had a significant secular as well as spiritual role. For over a thousand years they had ruled lands in the Italian peninsula. In 1860, as part of the process of Italian unification, the forces of the future King Victor Emmanuel of Italy seized the Papal States, which mostly consited of the territory across central Italy, leaving only Rome and surrounding coastal regions under papal control. In 1871 King Victor Emmanuel captured Rome and he declared it the new capital of Italy.

Successive Popes disputed the legitimacy of the King of Savoy’s acts and refused to recognise the sovereignty of Italy. The Popes retreated to the Vatican Palace. Many of the major powers continued to recognise Papal sovereignty and maintained diplomatic relations with the Pope. In 1929, the Government of Italy and the Holy See signed the Lateran Treaty which recognised the independence of the Holy See. In 1984, the Holy See and Italy modified the provisions of the Lateran Treaty.

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