My Rione is not really even a Rione. It’s not a neighborhood, but rather a separate country within Italy, and Rome. It is Vatican City, and it’s different. The culture, the governing, the post office, even the money are all Vatican, and all the Catholic Church. My Rione is very interesting because it is also the smallest “country” in the world, actually only 110 acres, with only 800 inhabitants. Because my Rione is so different from any other in Rome, it’s very interesting to look into its inhabitants, its visitors, but mainly its purpose in Rome, and all over the world.
Vatican City is the center of the Catholic Church. The Pope is the Bishop of Rome and the worldwide leader of the Catholic Church. Vatican City is also home to the Holy See, which is the governing body of the Catholic Church. It is interesting to see the Vatican’s influence over everything in Rome for hundreds and hundreds of years. Religious inscriptions and images are on nearly every ruin and historic monument in Rome. The church has a huge influence in Rome, more than any other place in the world, because the Vatican is here.
Because it is the center of the Catholic Church, tourism and visitors to the Vatican are numerous. When focusing on my Rione I cannot help but think that whenever I am in Vatican City, the vast majority of people I can see are visitors to the city, and aren’t the inhabitants. This is why the culture of Vatican City is very hard to define. Is it holy? Yes. Is it religious? Yes. But what do these things mean? The Vatican’s way of life is simply to govern the Church, and that is it’s sole purpose. That is why it is distinguishable from every other neighborhood in Rome. The cultural aspect of Vatican City is very hard to define because of this. There’s no other cultural aspect other than religion. In any other neighborhood I would look at the residents, the restaurants, the shops, the parks, and other venues to identify the differences between neighborhoods. In Vatican City, all I have to look at is the religious aspects, for example, the churches, Papal apartments, and the Piazza San Pietro. This is why it is hard to say that Vatican City has a distinct culture, or way of life, because it does not. That is why it is easy to define what Vatican City is, but it is hard to define its culture.
The architecture and buildings are one of the special parts of the area. The walls and columns surrounding Piazza San Pietro enclose the area to define the space that is the Vatican, but also to showcase St. Peter’s Basilica, as well as for security. I like how the walls define this plaza and area, and the Basilica is like the stage that everyone looks at, raised up at the end of the piazza. The architecture is very representative of the Catholic Church. The walls have statues of 140 saints lining the whole piazza, and Jesus and his apostles are depicted on the façade of the basilica. This architecture represents the home of the Catholic Church.
Another theme that I think is really important to recognize is the control that the Church wants to exhibit. I am not sure why Vatican City cannot simply be a “city” within Italy. Why does the Church need to be separate and have absolute control of everything within the city? It is interesting that Vatican City even has its own postal system, because they want to be in control of their territory. This makes me think about why the church wants this control. Is it because they want to separate church and state? There could be any number of reasons why the Church has chosen to do this but it is very interesting to think about because it is unusual.
Because my Rione is so small, it is really difficult to get a feeling for the area and its inhabitants. When visiting Vatican City, I realize that it is different, because it is the home of the Catholic Church. Other than that, the only part that stands out to me is the fact that it is highly religious. The Pope is an inspiration to thousands of people, and a physical life here on earth that people can look to for guidance. He is a representation of God, here on earth. Being Catholic, I realize that it is important to have a place where people can visit, like the Vatican, and know that the Catholic Church is governed in that specific area. Although hard to define a specific culture within Vatican City, the area is very distinguishable, and a beautiful representation of the Catholic Church.
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