In the middle of Rome, a few steps are enough to change state

You can cross a border without leaving the environment of a big city. The territory of Vatican City is located in the heart of Rome. St. Peter’s Square belongs to this distinct state: the limit does not everywhere take the spectacular form of an isolated post between two campaigns.

The official site notably describes a strip of travertine connecting the ends of the colonnade to the ground and marking the edge of the state in the square. Elsewhere, the walls draw a much more visible separation. The appearance of the passage changes, its political nature remains.

Another subtlety complicates the maps: certain properties of the Holy See located in Rome or elsewhere enjoy extraterritorial rights. It doesn’t just turn them into ordinary pieces of Vatican territory. To understand this tiny neighborhood, it is therefore necessary to distinguish the border of the state and the special status of certain buildings.