Vatican City is the world’s smallest microstate. Landlocked within Rome, the popes exercised both actual power and spiritual authority over Christian rulers throughout the centuries. The city-state sits above a necropolis and an ancient Roman racetrack. The Swiss Guard is the Holy See’s modern army with a Renaissance uniform of blue, yellow, and red stripes.

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St. Peter’s Square

St. Peter’s Square is the large plaza in front of the basilica. At the center is an ancient Egyptian obelisk. At the sides are Bernini’s elliptical Doric colonnades that are four columns deep. If you stand at the Centro del Colonnato, you will see all of the columns perfectly aligned.

St. Peter’s Basilica

Renaissance architecture revived Greek and Roman design ideas. Michelangelo and Bernini, and a team of artists, designed the world’s largest church. Inside are numerous treasures, including Michelangelo’s Pietà sculpture, notable for its balance of naturalism with classical Renaissance ideals of beauty.

Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo painted transcendent frescoes on the ceiling, which shows when God gave life to Adam and other creation stories. On the alter wall, Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment depicts a terrifying scene where the saved ascend and the damned descend.

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