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All Vatican City

The Atlas Obscura Guide To Vatican City

10 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Vatican City

Updated November 27, 2025
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Unusual Attractions in Vatican City

Vatican Necropolis.

Vatican City

Vatican Necropolis

Hidden beneath the famous St. Peter's Basilica is a veritable city of the dead that may hold the remains of St. Peter himself.
The gallery of maps, showing the ceiling

Vatican City

Gallery of Maps - Galleria delle Carte Geografiche

Breathtaking and huge 430 year old maps of Italy.
La Resurrezione

Vatican City

La Resurrezione

If you want to talk to the Pope you will have to stare down this surreal vision of Jesus rising from a nuclear hell.
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Vatican City

Stufetta del Bibbiena

The Vatican's secret porn-festooned bathroom was painted in erotic murals by one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance.
Master studio.

Vatican City

Vatican Mosaic Studio

A hidden workshop for creating and restoring Papal mosaic masterpieces.
The sculpture was created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1670.

Vatican City

'The Vision of Constantine'

This equestrian statue of Constantine the Great has been the subject of criticism for centuries.

Città del Vaticano, Vatican City

Teutonic Cemetery

The secret centuries-old German cemetery in the heart of the Vatican.
See All 10 Things To Do in Vatican City
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Explore Vatican City

Vatican 6
Sacred Spaces 3
Sculptures 3
Catholic 2
Christianity 2
Religion 2
Art 1
Erotic 1
Houses 1
Marvelous Maps And Measures 1
Intriguing Environs 1
Repositories Of Knowledge 1
Subterranean Sites 1
Dead Explorers 1
Mosaics 1
Walls 1
Immigration 1
History 1
Pope 1
Refugees 1

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Stories About Vatican City

An 1870 painting by Jean-Paul Laurens depicts the infamous “Cadaver Synod,” when a papal corpse was put on trial.

Atlas Obscura’s Juiciest Pope Drama

Lost body parts, dirty paintings, and an ill-fated elephant.
by Andrew Coletti, Atlas Obscura
January 30, 2025

Why Elite Romans Decorated Their Floors With Garbage

This mosaic is trash.
by Amelia Soth, Atlas Obscura
November 22, 2019
Adam and Eve eating from the fig tree in the Garden of Eden.

A Detail You May Not Have Noticed in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Fresco

Remember when Eve bit into the…fig?!
by Evan Nicole Brown, Atlas Obscura
November 2, 2018
Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
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