Rome & Vatican City

Rome and Vatican City together form the spiritual center of Roman Catholicism, the largest Christian denomination with over 1.3 billion members worldwide. [1][2][4]

Christian tradition holds that the apostles Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome in the 1st century CE. The Vatican became the seat of the papacy, and St. Peter's Basilica was built over what is traditionally identified as Peter's burial site. [1][2]

Vatican City is an independent city-state and the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Museums are among the most visited religious and cultural sites in the world. [1][2]

Vatican City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. St. Peter's Square hosts papal audiences and major liturgical celebrations attended by hundreds of thousands. [3][1]

Rome has been one of the great Christian pilgrimage destinations since antiquity, centered on the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul, and it draws enormous crowds for papal audiences, canonizations, and Holy Years. St Peter's Square is the gathering place for the largest of these events. [1][2]

St Peter's Basilica, built over the traditional burial site of the apostle Peter, is among the largest churches in the world, and the Vatican complex includes the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums. Vatican City is an independent state and the seat of the papacy. [1][2][3]

Christian tradition holds that Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome in the first century, and the city became the seat of the bishop of Rome, the pope. As the center of the Roman Catholic Church, it is the spiritual focus for more than a billion Catholics worldwide. [1][2][4]