Message #74440

[Bianca]

Territory



The name "Vatican" is ancient and predates Christianity, coming from the Latin Mons Vaticanus, meaning Vatican Mount.[4] The territory of Vatican City is part of the Mons Vaticanus, and of the adjacent former Vatican Fields where St. Peter's Basilica, the Apostolic Palace, the Sistine Chapel,
and museums were built, along with various other buildings.

The area was part of the Roman rione of Borgo until 1929. Being separated from the city, on the
west bank of the Tiber river, the area was an outcrop of the city that was protected by being in-
cluded within the walls of Leo IV, and later expanded by the current fortification walls of
Paul III/Pius IV/Urban VIII.

When the Lateran Treaty of 1929 that gave the state its present form was being prepared, the boundaries of the proposed territory was influenced by the fact that much of it was all but enclos-
ed by this loop. For some tracts of the frontier, there was no wall, but the line of certain buildings supplied part of the boundary, and for a small part of the frontier a modern wall was constructed.

The territory included St. Peter's Square, which was not possible to isolate from the rest of Rome,
and therefore a largely imaginary border with Italy runs along the outer limit of the square where it touches on Piazza Pio XII and Via Paolo VI. St. Peter's Square is reached through the Via della Conciliazione which runs from the Tiber River to St. Peter's. This grand approach was constructed
by Mussolini after the conclusion of the Lateran Treaty.

According to the Lateran Treaty, certain properties of the Holy See that are located in Italian terri-
tory, most notably Castel Gandolfo and the Patriarchal Basilicas, enjoy extraterritorial status similar
to that of foreign embassies.[5][6] These properties, scattered all over Rome and Italy, house essential offices and institutions necessary to the character and mission of the Holy See.[6]

Castel Gandolfo and the named basilicas are patrolled internally by police agents of the Vatican City State and not by Italian police.

St. Peter's Square is ordinarily policed jointly by both.[5]