Laurie of Arabia: The Vatican - Part 1

      As a very young child, growing up in a Mormon family, I had a not-so-secret wish to be a Catholic nun! We lived fairly close to the Convent of Saint Anthony, and the nuns who resided there could be seen all over town. I loved their long black habits. I wanted to be "a sister". I would parade around the house with a blanket trailing down from my head. I even had a nun name, Sister Mary Laurie. Then when I was five years old, The Sound of Music came out, and just reinforced my desire to be a nun, and when I grew up, I could marry Captain Von Trapp! (To this day, I still get goose bumps whenever I see a movie with Christopher Plummer in it - my first crush!)

      I have always been fascinated with all religions, and have devoured all types of Catholic literature from Rumor Godden's In This House of Brede, to Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. Then, while in my 20s, I was a preparing a cultural refinement lesson for my own religion on Michelangelo and the Renaissance, and I came across a picture of his statue, The Pieta. I knew I would have to one day visit The Vatican so that I could see this statue in person, so powerful was its hold on me.

Lay of the Land

     The Vatican sits 109 acres of land west of the Tiber River in central Rome. The population of Vatican City is a little over 800 people. The Vatican has been its own country since 1929 when it was made a sovereign country independent of Italy. The area where Vatican City sits has been a Christian site since the first century. The Vatican is basically two distinct states in one, the physical Vatican City, and the Holy See, which is the episcopal or religious state. The Pope is head of both.

Vatican City is a walled city with an opening at St. Peter's Square - which is really an oval - where lines are painted noting the boundary between Vatican City and Italy (Rome). To get in to the Vatican from anywhere but St. Peter's Square will require going through security, and this includes the museums.

History

The ager vaticanus was a flood plain west of the Tiber River. Swampy, and mosquito infested, it was pretty much left alone until the first century A. D. Then Agrippina, mother of Nero, started to drain the area for gardens. Nero, the crazed emperor, would later build a circus ( chariot race stadium) in the area. Not liking Christians one bit, he would feed them to starved wild animals, such as lions and bears, in between chariot races to keep the men in the stadiums from growing bored. It was during Nero's time that the Apostle Peter, was crucified at the stadium. The bodies of the Christians would be buried in the vicinity, and a cult of Peter's followers would set up vigils at his burial place.

Vatican City lies a top both Nero's Circus and the Christian necropolis.

Security

As Vatican City does not have its own army, a special arrangement has been made with Switzerland for devout Catholic men to serve as the Swiss Guards. These men must be between 19 - 30 years of age, single, and have had served with honor in the Swiss Army.

As far back at the 1400s, Swiss men were recruited to serve in armies or as bodyguards all over Europe. Pope Sixtus (1471-1484 for whom the Sistine Chapel is named) was the first pope to make an agreement for Swiss soldiers.

In 1874, the Swiss Constitution was amended so that foreign countries could not recruit Swiss nationals to their armies, but the Swiss could volunteer until 1927 when that, too, was banned in the Swiss Constitution. The Holy See is the only country for which Swiss soldiers can be recruited.

In 1914 the official striped uniform of the guards was designed. This uniform is used mostly for show in tourist areas, otherwise the guards wear a navy blue uniform.

You find this uniform at night, and at checkpoints where actual
cars are going through.

The more colorful uniforms are a areas where tourists are likely to be. However, the guard will not pose with tourists.
Tourists do need to keep a respectful distance as these men are real soldiers, armed, and on duty.

Outside the Vatican Walls

Outside the Vatican City limits are the tourist shops and kiosks. These alone could rate a post as the items on sale range from the sacred to the profane.