Vatican City Trivia

1. Vatican City is a landlocked enclave of which Italian city?

From Quiz Vatican City

Answer: Rome

An enclave is a territory which is surrounded entirely by the territory of another state. Vatican City is surrounded entirely by the city of Rome, Italy. It is a completely distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See. San Marino is another territory that is surrounded by Italy and Lesotho is an enclave that is surrounded by South Africa.

From Quiz History of Vatican City

Answer: Agrippina the Elder

Agrippina had the area drained so she could built lavish gardens. Caligula later built a circus there called Circus of Nero, after the emperor who would complete it. Vatican City lies on sacred land even before Christian times. In ancient, pre-Christian times, people would go to the area and leave offerings for various deities.

From Quiz City With No Children

Answer: St. Peter's

The keys are Peter's, which are well-known in the Bible as the keys to Heaven. One key is gold, and the other is silver, and they are crossed on the right side of the flag on a white band. The other half of the flag (the left half) is yellow. The Vatican's flag is one of only two square national flags; the other is Switzerland. It's interesting to know that the Vatican City flag is different than the Holy See flag.

From Quiz Vatican City: A State with a Soul

Answer: Stato della Citta del Vaticano

The Holy See is the conventional short form, State of the Vatican City the conventional long form and Santa Sede the local short form.

From Quiz Vatican City State

Answer: Victor Emanuel II.

Until about the 1860's Italy consisted of multiple independent States. At that time the Pope had complete civil powers for a large area, including Rome. When Victor Emanuel II. became King of Italy in 1861 he united the country into a single government. All independent States, including the Papal State were dissolved.For nearly 60 years the Pope and his staff remained entirely within the Papal Palace and gardens.They never travelled outside thatlimited area and considered themselves to be 'Prisoners' of the Kingdom.

From Quiz Vatican City

Answer: Less than a square mile

Vatican City is the world's smallest independent state from an area and a population perspective as well. The population is 825 and the area is forty-nine hectares (121 acres or 0.19 square miles). Despite its small size, its influence of course is enormous as its most famous inhabitant is the Pope who is the leader of the Catholic Church. There are over one billion Catholics in the world so his reach is pretty wide! The second smallest nation in terms of size is Monaco, which is 0.81 square miles in area.

From Quiz Fascinating Vatican City

Answer: The Swiss Guard

The Papal Swiss Guard was founded in 1506. Their colorful silk uniforms can be seen in travel brochures of Vatican City. To be a member of this small but elite army, you must be male, Catholic, and have Swiss citizenship. All applicants must have at least a high school diploma or college degree, be at least 5'09" tall and between 19-30 years of age. The uniform of the Swiss Guard weighs over eight lbs. and may be the heaviest used by any army today. They are also some of the most complex and hardest to make. These men add much of the color that is seen when visiting Vatican City.

From Quiz Vatican City: A State with a Soul

Answer: Monarchical-sacerdotal state

The government type of the Vatican City is monarchical-sacerdotal. It is headed by the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, who is elected for life by the cardinals. Some factbooks describe the system of government not as monarchical-sacerdotal but as ecclesiastical. 'Sacerdotal' means 'priestly'. This means that a priest (in this case the Holy Father) is the monarch of the country.

From Quiz Vatican City State

Answer: 1929

In 1929 Pope Pius XI. and the Italian government established an independent Vatican City State under the terms of the Lateran Treaty.

From Quiz Vatican City

Answer: Hot and dry

Vatican City has the same climate as Rome which means that the summers are hot and dry and the winters are mild and rainy. Summers generally last from May to September and winters from September to May.

From Quiz History of Vatican City

Answer: Old St. Peter's Basilica

The Constantinian Basilica - so called because the construction began during the reign of Constantine - stood until 1505 after a millennia of existence. It was built over the Circus of Nero and demolished a number of pagan shrines and tombs that littered the area. The basilica was controversially destroyed when Pope Julius II ordered the construction of a new basilica. The controversy surrounded the preservation of the old basilica to which only a minimal effort was made and much of the original architecture and items were destroyed with only a handful of particularly valuable items saved. Today, the Constantinian Basilica is called the Old St. Peter's Basilica to not confuse it with the St. Peter's Basilica that is still standing today.

From Quiz City With No Children

Answer: Vatican Hill

The Vatican Hill contains most of the Vatican Gardens, which covers more than half of the entire country. The Hill reaches 200 feet at its tallest point. The Vatican Gardens contains not only plants, but several beautiful fountains and statues as well.

From Quiz Fascinating Vatican City

Answer: Palace of Sixtus V

The Apostolic Palace is also called the Palace of Sixtus the V (1520-1590). This building houses both residential apartments as well as administrative offices. Construction of the palace was begun in 1589 under the Papacy of Pope Sixtus V, hence the name.

From Quiz Vatican City: A State with a Soul

Answer: 80

Suffrage is limited to cardinals who are below 80 years. The Pope appoints the cardinals, who are usually bishops or archbishops.

From Quiz Vatican City State

Answer: 109

The Vatican City State includes a relative small total area. St. Peter's Square, St. Peter's Basillica and portions of the Papal Palace (including the Sistine Chapel are in a relatively open public area. The remainder of the Vatican City State is behind high walls.

From Quiz Vatican City

Answer: Urban development

The state is primarily used for urban development and no large amount of land is set aside for agriculture or resource mining. Part of the land is used for building development and part of it is reserved for open space. Vatican Gardens occupies this open space. For such a small state there is a surprising number and variety of structures. This includes a rail line and train station, art centers, a heliport, a post office, military barracks, government palaces, and institutions of higher learning.

From Quiz City With No Children

Answer: Roman Question

The Roman Question began in 1861 when Rome became the capital of Italy. When Rome was captured in 1870, residents of the Vatican considered themselves prisoners of the Vatican. It wasn't until 1929 that the Popes left their palace into Rome itself.

From Quiz Fascinating Vatican City

Answer: Borgia

This apartment had been home to Pope Alexander VI whose birth name had been Rodrigo de Borgia. Under his papacy, his family became notorious for criminal activity that included many murders, rapes, bribery and theft among others. His apartments contained many frescoes painted by the 15th century master Pinturicchio. Upon the death of the pope in 1503, the apartment and its many rooms of artwork were locked up and abandoned until 1889 when after heavy and careful restoration the apartment was opened to the public.

From Quiz Vatican City: A State with a Soul

Answer: Apostolic Constitution of 1967

The Apostolic Constitution of 1967 came into effect on 1 March 1968.

From Quiz Vatican City State

Answer: Autocracy

The Pope has complete governmental {power;} however, he is assisted by a body of agencies known as the 'Curia'.

From Quiz Vatican City

Answer: Low hill

Vatican City sits on a low hill called Vatican Hill. Vatican Hill is located across the Tiber River from the seven hills of Rome. There is some thought that historically an Etruscan settlement occupied the area however there is no evidence of remains of that settlement if it did exist.

From Quiz History of Vatican City

Answer: Lateran Treaty

The Lateran Treaty or Lateran Pact was an agreement that ended the decades-long controversy called the Roman Question. The Roman Question was the conundrum over how to handle the Popes after the Reunification of Italy. The new Italy had seized property from the Catholic Church and removed the Pope's secular governing power. As a result of the 1929 treaty, Vatican City was established as a small piece of land within Rome independent from Italy.

From Quiz City With No Children

Answer: Neutral

The Vatican City remained neutral during World War II. Germany occupied Rome in 1943, yet the Vatican City had been left alone. They did not even join the Axis powers with Italy. The Vatican was able to remain neutral throughout the entire war, under the leadership of Pope Pius XII.

From Quiz Fascinating Vatican City

Answer: St. Peter

Constantine, who was the first Christian emperor of Rome, ordered the building of a basilica. For the location he chose the location where Saint Peter was said to have buried after his crucifixion in 64 AD. This church was not completed until about 349 AD. By the mid 15th century the basilica had fallen into ruin. In 1450 a new foundation was laid, but this new basilica was not finished until 1626. The two main architects involved were Bramante and Michelangelo. St. Peter's Basilica is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.

From Quiz Vatican City: A State with a Soul

Answer: College of Cardinals

In 2005 the College of Cardinals named Pope Benedict to the successor to Pope John Paul II.

From Quiz Vatican City State

Answer: Bold Yellow and White

It is a rather bold yellow-white flag.

From Quiz Vatican City

Answer: St Peter's Basilica

Saint Peter's Basilica is a church located in Vatican City that is built in the Renaissance style. It was designed by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It's the arguably most famous example of Renaissance architecture in the world and, by interior measurement, is the largest church in the world. In Catholic tradition, it is believed that one of Jesus's apostles, Saint Peter, is buried in the basilica. St Peter's is very famous as a place of pilgrimage.

From Quiz History of Vatican City

Answer: Germany

The Reichskonkordat was a controversial agreement between Vatican City and Nazi Germany in which Germany would recognize the right of the Catholic Church to operate in Germany in exchange for Germany clergy refraining from most public nonreligious activities, especially politics. The agreement remains highly controversial as many Allied nations before and during World War II viewed it as the Vatican appeasing Germany and preventing the Vatican from more forcefully countering the Nazis.

From Quiz City With No Children

Answer: Chamberlain

Though "camerlengo" means "chamberlain" in Italian, the camerlengo is usually also a cardinal. In Dan Brown's novel "Angels and Demons", the camerlengo was a main character. However, in the novel, the camerlengo was just a priest, sort of like a "right hand man" to the Pope. The camerlengo is actually a chamberlain and cardinal, however.

From Quiz Vatican City

Answer: Circus of Nero

At the center of St. Peter's Square stands a red granite uninscribed Egyptian obelisk. The obelisk itself is just under twenty-six meters tall and is supported by bronze lions. On top of the obelisk is a cross. The obelisk was originally erected at Heliopolis, Egypt. It was then moved to Alexandria until it was moved again by Caligula. Caligula had it moved to Rome, to the Circus of Nero (also called the Circus of Caligula). It was moved to its current location in 1586 and is the only obelisk in Rome still standing since ancient times.

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Last Updated Dec 21 2024 5:52 AM

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