Military Of Vatican City
The State of the Vatican City lies entirely within Rome, the capital of Italy. Therefore, its military defense is provided by Italy. Vatican City has no armed forces. It does, however, have within its borders the Pontifical Swiss Guard or Swiss Guard. The Swiss Guard is a small force maintained by the Holy See and is responsible for the safety of the Pope, including the security of the Apostolic Palace and access to the entrances to the city-state. It serves as the de facto if not de jure military of Vatican City. The Corps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City is a civilian force maintained by the Vatican City. The Vatican has never been involved in war in any major way and has only seen anything close to military action once when it was bombed during World War II.
Historically, a number of other units existed. The Noble Guard and the Palatine Guard were abolished by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
Read more about Military Of Vatican City: Pontifical Swiss Guard, List of Former Military Units Owing Allegiance To The Pope, Officers' Ranks
Famous quotes containing the words military and/or city:
“I really do inhabit a system in which words are capable of shaking the entire structure of government, where words can prove mightier than ten military divisions.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)
“I have developed a visionary modern lyric, and, for it, an idiom in which I can write lyrically, colloquially, and dramatically. My subject is city life—with its sofas, hotel corridors, cinemas, underworlds, cardboard suitcases, self-willed buses, banknotes, soapy bathrooms, newspaper-filled parks; and its anguish, its enraged excitement, its great lonely joys.”
—Rosemary Tonks (b. 1932)