Vatican

If you've ever seen that scene in Angels and Demons, you know where this is going.

Map of The Vatican City State.

That's right - this post is about the Vatican. The central hub of the Roman Catholic and Catholic religions, and the place of residence of Pope Francis, who is the head of Catholicism and head of the soveriegn state.

Be warned - this is going to be short, seeing as the Vatican City State is tiny.

Map of the Vatican City State
in Rome.

Usually seen on TV in news reports about the Pope, the Vatican holds a timeless prestige

Made up of St Peters Basilica, St Peter's Square, the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Museum and Gardens, the Vatican City is a tiny sovereign state located within the city of Roma (Rome), Italy, located nearby to the Castle of Saint Angelo. Like I said, its a tiny but globally important centre of religion and festival and history.

On a map, its difficult to see where it is and get excited about. I mean, come on, this is the Eternal City of Rome which has the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain and Castle of Saint Angelo. Hell, the place boasts having the Circus Maximus! The place is so intrinsically intertwined with Britain's history that these attractions tend to be at the top of a tourist's bucket list. When you visit, you do not tend to think - I want to visit the Vatican City and the Vatican City only. Or do you? But travelling to this oft-times exclusive area, you are going to be surprised.

When I visited it back in 2013 on a City Break (or what I thought was a City Break), I was initially dubious about the place and not really interested. Being an Atheist and proudly admitting that fact, you can possibly understand why. Not even going to a Church Primary School for seven years, doing a reading four times a year, and receiving a bible as a Leavers present was enough to convince me otherwise. I admire people who have a religion, that is true, but religion holds a small influence over people's lives.

View of St Peters Square from the
top of the Basilica.

I'm going off topic! Sorry everyone.

As a right-sided hemiplegic and Ancient History lover, I was more fascinated by the Roman architecture and attractions in the city. But saying that, when my family and I did visit the Vatican, it took me by surprise. The Basilica can only be described in one word - massive. Its about the size of a small piazza (or plaza whichever you prefer), in the centre of which is the Egyptian/Roman Obelisk, moved to Rome from Alexandria by Emporer Caligula. Unlike most religious sites, the Vatican City is open to the public, tourists and religious followers all year around, which gives it an advantage over some of the more exclusive sites.

St Peters Basilica,
including the famous
obelisk, from the Square.

However, should you decide to visit, beware of the long and winding queues for the museum, and, I think, the Sistine Chapel. With these two areas of the complex being two of the sights to see, everyone and their dog wants to be able to say I was there, I looked inside. In fact, the long queues were the main and most important reason I myself did not get a chance to see the inside of these two buildings. The queues were out the gates and my parents weren't really up to dealing with two hyperacive kids. One was too young to be waiting for hours on his feet in the baking sun and the other too excited to see the rest Rome had to offer to want to deal with the issues that arose. Being disabled, sorry disadvantaged - I keep having to remind myself not to call it disability and it seems I forgot for the couple of seconds it took me to write the word, is not a reason for someone to ask uncomfortable questions. Yet, despite Continental Europe's stance on disadvantages, people still ask the uncomfortable questions about what your disadvantage is no matter where you go.

So our visit was a quick one.

Yet, seeing St Peter's Basilica and Square is more than enough to understand the importance of this religious site and small area of Rome.