Have you ever heard a country full of mysteries which is the smallest all around the world?
By: Rulan Sheng 130306139 Class 1
When I first heard the name of Vatican, it must be in the Japanese Comic. Because there are many fantastic elements in the animation creations which referred to religions that grew up in Vatican prosperously. After that, I get a little information about Vatican from our geographical books that it’s the smallest country around the world for its territorial area which is only 0.44 sq. km.
In order to be more close to the comic world, I become interested in this mysterious country. Let’s view Vatican at once!
The Vatican is a city full of artistic breath and religious, although the Vatican in geography is a small country, but due to the Catholic faith population in the whole world, in the political and cultural and other fields ,it has a worldwide influence.
If you want to travel Vatican, never miss the St. Peter’s Basilica regarded as one of the holiest Catholic sites. Both the appearance and history of St Peter’s make it worth visiting. One observer wrote: “St Peter’s Basilica is the reason why Rome is still the center the civilized world. For religious, historical, and architectural reasons it by itself justifies a journey to Rome, and its interior offers a palimpsest of artistic styles at their best…” The basilica is cruciform in shape, with an elongated nave in the Latin cross form .The entire interior of St. Peter’s is lavishly decorated with marble, reliefs, architectural sculpture and gilding . It is the most prominent building in the Vatican City. Its dome is a dominant feature of the skyline of Rome. In terms of history, It used to be a Saint Peter’s burial site, then became Old St. Peter’s Basilica, and by the end of the 15th century, it was planned to be rebuilt. The American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson described St. Peter’s as “an ornament of the earth … the sublime of the beautiful.” We can get a glimpse of the country from the quotes by famous people.
After admiring the St. Peter’s Basilica, we can move to the St. Peter’s Square which is also the most famous and biggest square in Rome. It is a massive plaza located directly in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City, At the center the square is a four-thousand-year-old Egyptian obelisk, erected at the current site in 1568. Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed the square almost 100 years later, including the massive Tuscan colonnades, four columns deep, which embrace visitors in “the maternal arms of Mother Church.” A granite fountain constructed by Bernini in 1675 matches another fountain designed by Carlo Maderno dating to 1613.Each statue in the square is lifelike.
The people who had watched “angels & demons” may feel a lot about Vatican, I am not the exception ,too. The most memorable scene for me in the movie is, the bishop of a pile of old man during a papal conclave are stuck together. Law: this is the Vatican during a papal conclave, so the election of personnel must be locked in isolated rooms, until the new Pope elected can they leave. Recently that vote a Pope is in March last year, Benedict xvi decided to resign due to old age and healthy relationship, becoming the first 600 years died not from dismissal of the Pope. German Pope Benedict xvi is respected by people, the most impressive is that he understand the language, countries can even read that is ready to perish of the old Greek and Hebrew. The Pope is the cardinal bell oreo from Argentina, Francis I was known as the Pope. This is a great historical change, because he is the first Hispanic ever to the Pope.
All in all, when you arrive in Vatican, welcome to feel the special humanities atmosphere there.
