Vatican City is a sovereign state on Rome’s western side, but it is not simply another name for the Catholic Church or the Holy See. The state provides a territorial base; the Holy See is the central governing institution of the Catholic Church and conducts diplomatic relations. The distinction matters to visitors because the state’s borders, the Church’s offices and Rome’s wider religious landscape do not always occupy the same map.
The Lateran Treaty, signed by Italy and the Holy See on 11 February 1929, established Vatican City as an independent state and settled the Roman Question that had followed the loss of papal rule over Rome in 1870. The treaty did not recreate the former Papal States. It created a compact territory intended to secure the Holy See’s independence in carrying out its mission.
