The transportation system in Vatican City, a country long and wide,
/ref> is a small transportation system with no

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

s or

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

s. There is no public transport in the country. A heliport and a short railway are used for special occasions only. Most visitors will walk from a nearby Italian bus or train stop, or car parking. Given an average walking speed of ,

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

can be crossed in 20 minutes or less. Thus, much of the infrastructure in the Vatican consists of

St. Peter's Square Saint Peter's Square ( la, Forum Sancti Petri, it, Piazza San Pietro ,) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighborhood ( rione) of Borgo. B ...

itself, hallways and aisles in the basilica and surrounding buildings, and walkways behind and between the buildings. The

Vatican City Heliport Vatican City Heliport ( la, Portus helicopterorum Civitatis Vaticanae, it, Eliporto di Città del Vaticano) consists of a rectangular concrete landing area linked with a circular parking area. It is used for short journeys from or to Vatican Cit ...

is in the western corner of the

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

, and is used only for officials of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

and official visitors.

Air transport

Vatican City is served by

, sometimes used by official visitors. There is no public airport and visitors may use the two airports of Rome:

Ciampino Ciampino () is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, Italy. It was a ''frazione'' of Marino until 1974, when it became a ''comune''; it obtained the city ( it, città) status (being therefore officially known as Città ...

and

Fiumicino Fiumicino () is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 80,500 (2019). It is known for being the site of Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, the busiest airport in Italy and the eleventh-b ...

Railway

There is a short, , railway that connects to surrounding

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

's network at the

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

's station in the capital of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Vatican City railway station The Vatican Railway ( it, Ferrovia Vaticana) was opened in 1934 to serve Vatican City and its only station, Vatican City ( , or ). The main rail tracks are standard gauge and long, with two freight sidings, making it the shortest national ...

was designed by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Giuseppe Momo Giuseppe Momo (1875–1940) was an Italian architect and engineer, perhaps best known for the Scala Momo in the Vatican Museums cast by Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry of Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central It ...

and was constructed during the reign of

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City f ...

after the conclusion of the

Lateran Treaties The Lateran Treaty ( it, Patti Lateranensi; la, Pacta Lateranensia) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between the Kingdom of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle t ...

, opening in 1933. The railway was originally planned to transport pilgrims, but has rarely transported passengers.

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 28 Oc ...

was the first to travel on it, and

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

was known to have used it, but rarely. The railway is mainly used to transport

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

Rome Metro The Rome Metro ( it, Metropolitana di Roma) is a rapid transit system that operates in Rome, Italy. It started operation in 1955, making it the oldest in the country. The Metro comprises three lines – A (orange), B (blue) and C (green) � ...

line A passes the Vatican at

Ottaviano Ottaviano ( nap, Uttajano) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about east of Naples and is located in the Vesuvian Area. Ottaviano was in Roman times a hamlet of houses within ...

and Cipro-Musei Vaticani metro stations. Both stops are a ten-minute walk away from the city-state. The Vatican is also served by Risorgimento / San Pietro tram station, on the 19 route.

Road vehicles

Vehicle registration plates of official road vehicles registered in Vatican City use the prefix ''SCV,'' an abbreviation of the Latin ''Status Civitatis Vaticanae,'' followed by a series of digits, while vehicle registration plates of residential road vehicles registered in Vatican City use the prefix ''CV'' followed by a series of digits. The international identification plate/sticker is V. The Pope's car has usually carried the registration ''SCV 1'' in red lettering. As there is more than one vehicle used to transport the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, multiple registered vehicles in Vatican City use the ''SCV 1'' registration plate.

Vehicle fleet

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...

, who called for a more frugal lifestyle for the Catholic clergy in general, downgraded the Papal vehicles (reminiscent of his preference for public transport as Archbishop). He drives himself inside the Vatican in a small 1984 Renault 4 in lieu of the bulletproof popemobile.

References

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Air transport

Railway

Road vehicles

Vehicle fleet

See also

References