This video is sponsored by Brilliant.
Vatican City is a tiny speck of a city state
located in the heart of Rome.
It's only one kilometer wide at its widest point,
not the kind of place that would need
a robust transportation system worthy of a real city,
and yet there's a lot happening in that small space.
Did you know Vatican City has its own gas station?
It's right here in the shadow of St. Peter's Basilica.
Apparently the prices aren't posted,
but it's significantly cheaper than nearby Roman stations.
Only Vatican City residents and employees
have the privilege of filling up there.
The city has electric vehicles covered too.
There are numerous charging stations
in the Vatican's parking lots,
and surprisingly, there are a lot of parking lots.
According to my back of the napkin math,
about 6% of the city's land area is for car parking,
kind of a lot for city without much space.
This is no doubt because only about 450 people
actually live in the city,
so most employees commute in.
The Pope even gets around by car once in a while,
driving an old 1984 Renault 4
Most vehicles enter and exit
via the main gate at Via Sant'Anna
and can then access the street network within the Vatican.
Many of the streets weave through
the elaborate Vatican Gardens,
but the streets and buildings form
a tiny bit of urban fabric in the northeast corner.
Vatican City is also home
to the smallest national rail system in the world,
the famous Vatican Railway.
It's a spur line that connects the Vatican's train station
to the nearby Roma San Pietro train station,
and from there onto the larger European network.
The spur and station were initially envisioned
to carry religious pilgrims to the city,
but today it's primarily used for freight,
with only the occasional special guests getting a ride
to the 90-year-old austere train station building.
There is no airport in Vatican City as you might expect,
but there is a heliport located here
in the far western end of the city.
This is primarily used to transport the Pope
via Italian military helicopter
to a summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo.
These trips have been much less frequent
with the current Pope
who never even stays the night over there.
One can access Vatican City
by a wide variety of transportation,
just like any major city,
but there's more to a city than just its street network.
I must admit that before researching this video
I kind of assumed the Vatican
consisted of St. Peter's, the museums, and the palace.
This video goes deep into all of the utilities,
services, shops, government buildings, and yes, churches
that make Vatican City a true city.
Let's begin with the treaty that started it all
after the bike bell.
(bike bell ringing)
Vatican City as we know it today
was formalized in the Lateran Treaty of 1929.
It defined the relationship
between the country of Italy and the Holy See,
the sovereign entity of the Catholic Church
ruled by the Pope.
The two parties drafted a map that they both agreed upon
and the treaty went into some detail
about how this new city state would work
in relation to both Italy and the surrounding city of Rome.
One critical piece of the treaty
includes stipulations about Holy See property
outside of Vatican City.
Major basilicas like St. John in Lateran,
Santa Maria Maggiore, and St. Paul's Outside the Walls,
as well as other assorted buildings
belonging to the Holy See remain in Italy,
but essentially have embassy status.
In this video I'm gonna focus on the city itself
and ignore the extraterritorial claims of the Pope.
There are a few weird parts in Vatican City though.
St. Peter's Square,
the massive public space lined by Bernini's colonnade,
must be open to the public and policed by Italian police.
The Italian police, however,
have no power after stepping onto the stairs
leading to St. Peter's.
The other weird little part of Vatican City is this area,
home to part of an auditorium, a church,
and an office building.
It's like one of those extraterritorial embassies,
only immediately adjacent to Vatican City.
Practically speaking, it is part of the city.
Now that we understand the legal boundaries of the city,
we can move on to the essentials, public utilities.
There are about 450 residents of the city
along with a much larger group of employees,
and yet another even larger group of daily visitors.
Nearly 7 million people visited Vatican City in 2019.
When the toilets flush
in the Vatican Museum or the papal apartment,
where does the waste go?
Does the Vatican have a wastewater treatment facility?
What about electricity?
There are solar panels on some of the roofs.
Is that enough to make the Vatican City self-sufficient?
The short answer is no.
Vatican City is not
and was not designed to be completely self-sufficient,
and nobody would wanna smell a coal power plant,
landfill, and wastewater treatment plant
while looking up at the Sistine Chapel.
The Lateran Treaty states that, "Italy shall provide,
by means of suitable agreements
entered into with the interested parties,
that an adequate water supply
be fully assured to the Vatican City.
It shall equally also provide
for the coordination of all other public services."
Basically, Vatican City is reliant on Italy
for its basic utilities
and Italy has to provide them to the Vatican,
though the treaty doesn't get
more specific than that on the relationship
and things haven't always gone smoothly.
For example, for years after the treaty,
Vatican City's wastewater just dumped
untreated into the Tiber River.
In the 1980s, Italy passed the law
making wastewater treatment mandatory
in an effort to clean up its rivers.
Rome's utility agency, Acea,
built treatment plants around the city,
and now most of the Vatican City's wastewater
is treated here at this facility.
So, what's wrong with that?
Well, the treaty didn't really specify
if Vatican City should pay the utility company
for its services.
Remember, at the time of the treaty,
the sewage just ended up in the Tiber, which was free.
You can imagine which interpretation each side chose.
As far as I can tell,
both sides agree that the water should be free,
but they can't agree on wastewater treatment,
and the Holy See still refuses to pay.
Electricity is more or less the same story.
Italy provides for the Vatican's electric supply.
To its credit, Vatican City gets all of its electricity
from renewable sources
and has begun to generate power on onsite
through its rooftop solar arrays.
It's not producing enough to be self-sufficient,
but it's definitely better than nothing.
The last major utility to talk about is trash.
Vatican City generates about 1,000 tons of trash each year.
Obviously, it doesn't have a landfill,
and all waste is eventually shipped out of the city state.
A few years ago, the city set up an eco-center
to sort out up to 85 different types of waste
for eventual recycling.
I didn't read anything that told me
where the center is located,
but my best guess is over here maybe,
or maybe near the greenhouses
and what I think are warehouses.
Pope Francis, if you're watching this
and you know the answer,
drop it in the comments.
Okay, we've gone through the basic utilities
that make a city work,
but what about services?
Things like education, police, and fire?
Vatican City definitely has their version of those.
Now, as far as I can tell,
no kids go to school in Vatican City,
and there may not even be any kids.
It kind of makes sense,
as most people there take vows of celibacy.
There is one institution of higher learning,
the Ethiopian College, located in a plumb spot
right in the heart of the Vatican Gardens.
This institution trains students from Ethiopia and Eritrea
to become members of the clergy.
The Vatican used to have other colleges within the walls,
but now they reside elsewhere throughout Rome.
Vatican City is also home to the Vatican Library
and its extensive world-class Vatican Museums.
This massive complex contains
some of the Western tradition's
most priceless pieces of art and literature,
including the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo
and some of the oldest Christian texts around.
It would be a shame if all those priceless artifacts
went up in smoke,
which is why the Vatican has its own fire department.
It's located in the Belvedere Courtyard,
which makes it very close to the aforementioned artifacts.
The station's equipment is pint sized
to match the narrow streets and openings
of Vatican City's road network,
and the firefighters are often called in
to rescue tourists who can't complete the trip
up and down the stairs of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.
This being the Vatican, new recruits must be Catholic,
male, unmarried, and celibate,
and their celibacy must be affirmed
by a Roman Catholic priest.
If the celibacy thing isn't for you,
you could join up with the Vatican police force,
known as the Gendarmerie of Vatican City.
All of the other requirements still apply though.
These folks do all the basic police tasks,
like criminal investigation,
border control, and traffic control.
They're different than the Swiss Guard
who are tasked with protecting the Pope in his palace.
The Vatican police also don't have to wear
those subtle, tasteful Swiss Guard uniforms.
Both the police force and the Swiss Guard
have headquarters located within Vatican City.
The last public service worth mentioning is parks.
Over half of Vatican City's land area is parkland,
specifically the Vatican Gardens.
This is one of the few parts of the Vatican,
not including St. Peter's and the museums,
that you can actually visit as a non-citizen,
there are some guided tours.
There are three different types of gardens,
Italian, English, and French,
and they include statuary, the remains of a medieval wall,
and those trees pruned into cubes.
They're are a perfect place
for some spiritual meditation and fresh air.
But what about active recreation,
like sports fields and playgrounds?
There is a tennis court tucked away
in the northeast corner of the Vatican,
though it lacks a net in the recent satellite photo
suggesting it's not getting much use.
There's also playground equipment right next to it,
with swings and maybe a trampoline.
The areas around the tennis court and playground
are more mysterious.
Are these bocce courts
or some other kind of recreation space?
This looks like a turf surface of some kind.
Again, Pope Francis, let me know in the comments.
Vatican City does have a soccer league
the Vatican City Championship, consisting of eight teams.
The teams are formed from various departments
of the Vatican bureaucracy,
like the museum staff and the offsite hospital.
There is no soccer stadium within the Vatican City
and they play their games over here instead.
The best of each team have occasionally formed
a Vatican City national team for rare friendlies,
but Vatican City is not a FIFA member.
Thus far, we focused on municipal utilities and services,
but what about the day-to-day life within the walls?
Does it feel like a city?
Can you go get a coffee or a pint?
Can you go to the supermarket?
The answer to all these questions for the most part is yes.
Coffee can be found at the Vatican Museum's cafeteria
and at a little known coffee bar
on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica,
but these are mostly tourist oriented spots,
and as far as I know,
there aren't any cafes designed for locals.
The cafeteria also serves beer, if that's your thing.
Other than the cafeteria,
there are no restaurants in the city,
though there are plenty just outside Vatican City
and I'm sure many residents and employees
venture out for a meal.
If they don't feel like a restaurant,
they can go to the supermarket.
There are no taxes or duties,
so the items are about 1/3 cheaper
than in Italian supermarkets.
Priests and nuns from all over Rome stock up here,
not just those living in the Vatican City.
They can also shop at the nearby drugstore
which carries your typical medicine,
but also some high-end beauty products.
There's also a small duty-free shop
located in the Vatican train station.
Otherwise, the only shopping to be done in the Vatican City
is at the museum gift shop.
Needless to say, Vatican City residents
will need to be leaving the city
to get their other essentials or shop online.
Luckily, the Vatican City post office
is there to deliver packages.
Now, every city needs a city hall,
and Vatican City is no exception.
It's called the Palace of the Governate
and it's located directly behind St. Peter's,
and directly behind the palace is another church.
In fact, there are several other churches and chapels
located within Vatican City.
You'd think that the world's largest church
would be enough for the world's smallest country,
but when the city's primary industry is religion,
well, that's what happens.
The primary industry,
if you could call it that, of Vatican City
is supporting and extending Catholicism throughout the world
and there are several key buildings that make that happen.
They include two buildings that house the Vatican Radio,
which broadcasts in 47 languages worldwide
via radio, satellite, and the internet.
The northeast section of the city
is also home to the Vatican Press,
another way the city spreads
its religious message worldwide.
There are clearly lots of jobs in the Vatican,
including places I haven't even mentioned,
like the Vatican Bank and the Treasury,
but where do people live?
Well, the Apostolic Palace
is the ceremonial home of the Pope
and one of the major buildings in the city.
The current Pope doesn't actually live there, however.
He's taken up residents in the Domus Sanctae Marthae,
a guest house for visiting clergy.
It was built to house the College of Cardinals
during papal conclaves while they chose new popes.
The Arch-Priest of St. Peter's Basilica
gets his own special residence,
as does the head gardener of the Vatican Gardens.
The Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI lives in a former convent.
The Swiss Guard lives in their barracks,
and there are other assorted apartments and residences
scattered throughout the city.
For example, there are staff quarters
in the Apostolic Palace
for the nuns who run the papal household.
But otherwise, not a lot of housing in Vatican City.
It's quite the jobs/housing imbalance.
The Holy See probably doesn't see this as a problem
so long as the Pope has a place to stay.
Now, we've already covered
most of the structures in the Vatican Gardens,
but we've neglected one, Casina Pio IV,
home of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
This may be one of the most surprising institutions
located in this city,
an independent institute dedicated to the sciences
with no religious agenda.
The members of the academy
are scientists from around the world,
formally appointed by the Pope and serve there for life.
There are currently 80 members of the academy.
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