History of Vatican City Trivia Quiz

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.

Answer: It was not moved to its current location until 1586

While the obelisk originated in Egypt, it does not have hieroglyphs inscribed on it anywhere. It was long rumored that the metal ball on top of the obelisk contained the ashes of Julius Caesar. This was proven false when the ball was opened when it was moved in 1586 by Pope Sixtus V. It is the last ancient obelisk standing in Vatican City and all of Rome that has not been destroyed.

Caligula brought the obelisk to the Roman Circus for aesthetic purposes and today it is the only remnant of the circus standing. It is said that many Christians were martyred at the obelisk after being blamed for a fire that destroyed the city. It is also said to have once stood at the location where St. Peter was martyred on the upside-down cross.

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.

Answer: None of these

Until the 14th century, popes lived in the Lateran Palace which is located near Vatican City but in Rome proper. The building today is home to a Vatican Museum and is owned outright by the Catholic Church. When the papacy briefly relocated to Avignon, France, popes lived in the Palais des Papers.

When the papacy returned to Rome, popes lived in the Quirinal Palace until 1870 when the Kingdom of Italy was formed and it became the residence of the kings of Italy.

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.

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.

Answer: True

Vatican City's claimed neutrality during was another source of controversy. Allies accused Pope Pius XII of not doing enough to fight against the atrocities of Nazi Germany while Axis forces accused the Vatican of openly siding with the Allies. Pope Pius XII did provide intelligence reports to the Allied Forces and worked in secret with the German Resistance.

However, after the war Pope Pius XII was criticized for his openness to leniency toward the Axis Powers and for not having done enough to protect Jews in Europe.

Historians generally see him as a leader who tried to appease both sides while remaining officially neutral but wound up pleasing no one.

Answer: Twice

Vatican City was bombed twice during the war, both times by accident. In November 1943, a bomb was accidentally dropped by St. Peter's Basilica, killing and injuring no one. This bomb was dropped either by an American or British pilot who was mistaken as to his location. A British pilot accidentally bombed the outskirts of Vatican City in March 1944. One person was killed.

A potential bombing of Vatican City and Rome caused several disputes amongst the Allies. The Americans were adamantly set against bombing for fear of insulting Catholic soldiers who may not have followed the order. The British, meanwhile, were very open to the idea and dismissive of the idea that Vatican City and Rome needed to be protected at all costs. Pope Pius XII attempted to have Rome declared an open city to save it from destruction but Rome was bombed multiple times.

Answer: Mehmet Ali Agca

Mehmet Ali Agca shot Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981. The reasons for the assassination attempt are not entirely clear. Agca seemed to blame the Pope for a number of political and military events in his native Turkey and the Middle East but Agca also gave several conflicting statements as to why he had shot the Pontiff. Agca was sentenced to life in prison but was pardoned in 2000. During his imprisonment, he was visited by Pope John Paul II and the two corresponded several time.

The Pope received a letter from Agca as he was dying in 2005 and Agca visited his tomb after the pope was canonized in 2014.

Answer: Carlo Maria Vigano

Carlo Maria Vigano was, at the time, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. In January 2012, several of Vigano's letters to Pope Benedict XVI and other high-ranking Vatican officials were leaked in the Italian media. Vigano accused the Vatican of financial crimes and corruption regarding appointments, among other things. The scandal rocked the Vatican and several aides to the Pope and others were arrested, though most were either acquitted or pardoned.

The scandal continued on for years as more and more letters slowly leaked, including letters accusing the Vatican of aiding in the coverup of sex crimes committed by Catholic priests. The Pope called the claims exaggerated for sensationalist purposes while others in the Vatican claimed Vigano was just trying to cover himself due to his own brewing scandals.