With its own head of state (the Pope), postal service, currency, media, train station, army and tourist office, the Vatican City is pretty self-sufficient. Its components include St Peter's Basilica & Piazza and a multitude of museums and apartments.The most famous church in Christendom, St Peter's is a triumph of High Renaissance and Baroque genius. The first church was built here in 326 to commemorate the site of St Peter's martyrdom and burial - Nero's Circo Vaticano. This church, begun by Constantine, was demolished in the first years of the 16th century, and many great works of art, including Byzantine mosaics and frescoes by Giotto, were lost as a result. The magnificent structure we see today took a total of 150 years to build, incorporating a roll call of the era's finest: Bramante, Raphael, da Sangallo, Michelangelo, Della Porta and Maderno. Michelangelo is the name most closely associated with the building, taking over the project in 1547 at the age of 72 to partially design the dome. Bramante was responsible for the ingeniously embracing arms of the piazza which, along with the dome, dominate the exterior view.

Inside the vast and cavernous basilica, you can visit the tombs of numerous popes and the excavations currently going on underneath the structure (archaeologists believe they have finally found the grave of St Peter). You can also court a coronary and climb up Michelangelo's dome to catch some unequalled views of Rome (perhaps you should consider taking the lift up). The basilica's famous statuary includes Michelangelo's beautiful Pietà. The Vatican Museums contain an incredible collection of treasures - Egyptian pieces, Greek and Roman antiquities (including those stalwarts of student art tomes, the Apollo Belvedere and Laocoon), tapestries, maps, apartments painted by Raphael, the Borgia Apartments and, of course, Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel.