23 Treasures Of The Vatican That Most People Likely Aren’t Aware Of

The Vatican (also called Vatican City or the Vatican City State) is the smallest state in the world, both by area and population. But that isn’t the only thing that makes it special. It is also a state that is ruled by the Pope, who is the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church. Or in other words, it is ruled by The Holy See. 

It became independent from Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty. The name for the state derived from an Etruscan settlement, Vatica or Vaticum, which was located in the area the Romans called Ager Vaticanus – "Vatican territory." Yet, since the state doesn’t have its own language, its legislation and official communications use Italian. 

Despite being the smallest state in the world, the Vatican has its own football team. The team is made up of employees of the Vatican, like police officers, postal workers, and even the members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, which is kind of like the state's army, and it protects the Pope. 

Interestingly, the Vatican is also the country that has the highest wine consumption rate per capita in the world, as an average resident consumes 54.26 or 74 (depending on the information source) liters of wine every year. Well, with all of the masses in the country ruled by the head of the Catholic Church, it isn’t such a big surprise, is it? 

On the other hand, back in the first century, a poet named Martial declared that the area around the Vatican produced some of the worst wines. We guess that they must have improved their wine recipes to become the state that consumes this drink the most since then.

Another intriguing thing about the Vatican is that it contains a lot of religious and cultural sites, architecture, and artifacts. In fact, the Vatican is the only state that is in its entirety in UNESCO's List of World Heritage Sites.

For example, one of the best-known cultural sites in the Vatican is St. Peter's Basilica, under which one of the first leaders of the Catholic church, St. Peter himself, is buried. Some scholars suggest that he was crucified at the very same site, and to commemorate Emperor Constantine I, he decided to build a church. 

Also, a very famous Vatican cultural site is the Sistine Chapel, and its ceiling, which took 4 years for Michelangelo to paint, is deemed one of the major artistic accomplishments of human civilization. 

Besides these and some other famous cultural sites, within its walls, the Vatican holds many valuable treasures. Many examples can be seen in today’s list. For example, one of the rarest documents in history -- a papal letter of Martin Luther’s excommunication. It also holds Emperor Nero's 2000-year-old bathtub and other stuff that, in a way, can be viewed as artifacts that mark humanity’s rollercoaster of history. 

So, take a look at these artifacts, and don’t forget to upvote the ones that you found the most captivating!