Fourth Annual Silent Basket Auction
Framed Photograph #9
The Vatican City
The world’s smallest sovereign state (a mere 0.44 sq km), the Vatican sits atop the low-lying Vatican hill just a few hundred metres west of the River Tiber. Centred on the domed bulk of St Peter’s Basilica and Piazza San Pietro, it is the capital of the Catholic world, a spiritual superpower whose law is gospel to the world’s one billion Catholics. On a more temporal level, it’s one of Rome’s most visited areas and you’ll almost certainly have to wait to get into St Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums.
Whatever religious beliefs you have of your own, sitting in a Catholic Mass in the Vatican spoken in Latin is an entirely surreal experience. Although we had no idea what the priest was saying, the travelers who chose to take part in this mass were truly moved by the experience.
