Vatican City, Lazio, Italy
Thursday, June 16, 2011
I went to the Vatican two different days this week. Tuesday was the Vatican museums. Thursday was St. Peter's Basilica. It was so, so, so cool. I was so impressed with everything I saw. St. Peter's Basilica, the church built over Saint Peter (also the first pope), is the center of Catholicism and the largest basilica of Christianity. Despite the Vatican being the smallest independent city-state in the world, I could tell it still yields enormous power and influence. The Vatican has its own post office and stamps, judicial system, pharmacy, gas station, railway station, commissary, TV station, and its own police force (the Swiss Guards). It publishes a daily newspaper and sends out daily radio broadcasts in more than a dozen languages. The popes have lived in the Vatican since the end of the 14th century when they returned from Avignon.
