Vatican

The world’s smallest state, and its greatest art collection

Vatican City packs some of humanity's greatest treasures into 44 hectares. The world's smallest country with the grandest of ambitions.

Within Rome, you’ll be able to step inside the home of the Roman Catholic Church. An ecclesiastical state. Artistic gems. A haven for pilgrims from around the world.

St Peter's Square embraces you with Bernini's colonnade. The surrounding 284 columns curve like arms. On Sundays, the Pope appears at his apartment window. A voice carried across centuries of tradition. St Peter's Basilica commands Rome's skyline, its dome rising above the terracotta roofs. Step inside and the scale hits you.

The Vatican Museums wind endlessly onward, with its 70,000 artworks and 5 centuries of papal collections. Then the Sistine Chapel. Crane your neck. Michelangelo's famous ceiling unfolds above you.

The Vatican Gardens offer unexpected quiet. Half the city-state, manicured into hidden grottoes and shaded walks. Swiss Guards in striped Renaissance uniforms stand watch, as they have since 1506.