Vatican City

Vatican City is a sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome and is the home and administrative center of the Catholic Church. It has an area of approximately 44 hectares (110 acres), and a population of just over 800; Making Vatican City the smallest independent state in the world by both area and population.

As you enter St Peter's Square you face St Peter’s Basilica on one side with two sweeping semi-circular colonnades bracketing the square with an obelisk in the center. St. Peter's Basilica is a renowned work of Renaissance architecture, whose successive architects include Bramante, Michelangelo, Giacomo della Porta, Maderno and Bernini. The Basilica is the largest Catholic church and the tall ornate ceilings and open vaults makes the crowds almost passable. Ornate tombs of popes (some on display in glass) are at the base of many of the ornate columns. The Sistine Chapel is famous for its frescos, which include works by Perugino, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Botticelli as well as the ceiling and Last Judgment by Michelangelo. You can spend hours staring at the ceiling admiring Michelangelo's work.

The Vatican Museum contains many of the greatest works of art and science in history, some of which are on display as you walk to the Sistine Chapel. The rooms you walk through are very ornate with lots of gold leave and amazing works of art and sculpture. After you visit the Sistine Chapel you walk will take you to the map room which contains some of the oldest maps in the world. At the end is the Michelangelo staircase which leads down from the main floors to the street level exit.