Even the Holy See needs to stay connected, and its websites bear the country code “.va.” The code was obtained by an American cardinal and leader of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, John Patrick Foley, and went live on Christmas Day 1995. It was created so the Vatican could publish official documents using its own country code, rather than using the Italian code, “.it.”

Want to send a postcard back home with a Vatican City postmark on it? Look out for the yellow mailboxes scattered around the city. The Vatican’s postal service was established in 1929, and the yellow color helps distinguish the mailboxes from the red Italian ones. They have become an icon of the city-state, and tourists can even purchase a postcard with a yellow mailbox on it.

Because of light pollution in Rome and its surrounding countryside, the Vatican searched for a dark corner of Arizona for the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope — located atop Mount Graham in Safford and operated in partnership with the University of Arizona. It’s part of the Vatican Observatory, which is one of the world’s oldest astronomical research institutions. The telescope has an aperture of 5.9 feet, meaning it can capture incredibly detailed images of the galaxy and beyond.

A curious creature features on the stone of the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica: bees. That’s because Pope Urban VIIIl, who commissioned Bernini to sculpt the altar, was from the powerful Barberini family, whose family crest featured bumblebees. Urban VIII wanted to ensure his legacy in the Vatican was remembered, so Bernini included bees in sneaky locations around the basilica’s interior.

The Piazza San Pietro was designed and built by famed architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and during his planning, Bernini was determined to build its portico, as he stated, with “an open-armed, maternal welcome to all Catholics.” The two outstretched prongs of the portico really do extend like open arms, mounted with statues of key figures in the Catholic Church.

Creating an architectural and artistic masterpiece such as St. Peter’s Basilica takes time — 120 years, to be exact. Construction on the world’s largest Catholic church began in 1506, requiring the effort of thousands of workers until the basilica was consecrated in 1626. St. Peter’s Square surrounding the basilica was completed several decades later in 1667.

Carved from a solid block of Carrara marble in 1500, the Pietà depicts the Virgin Mary cradling Christ’s dead body. It’s the only work Michelangelo ever signed; there is a Latin inscription on Mary’s sash that bears his name. It’s said he did this because rumors were circling that the statue had been made by another artist, so Michelangelo wanted to stamp it. However, Michelangelo regretted signing his work, and never did so again.

In the days when popes would need to escape from the Vatican during raids, they required a secret way out, which is why the Passetto was built. The clandestine, narrow passageway extends for half a mile underground from the Vatican to the Castel Sant’Angelo on the banks of the Tiber River. During the 1527 Sack of Rome, Pope Clement VII used the passage to reach the safety of the fortress.

A famous statue in the Vatican which depicts St. Peter has one curious feature: It’s missing its right toes. Pilgrims come from all over the world to see this iconic statue, and when they arrive, they touch the statue’s feet and ask for admittance to heaven. The right foot is more exposed than the left, so it has suffered an unfair share of wear over the centuries.

Standing 130 feet above the center of St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican’s obelisk is impossible to miss, but did you know it has its origins in ancient Egypt? It originally stood as a tribute to the sun in the Nile Delta city of Heliopolis, before the Romans moved it to Italy in 37 CE. After standing in various places around Rome for 1,500 years, the obelisk was placed in what’s now St. Peter’s Square in 1586.

Citizenship of Vatican City is hard to come by, which is why only about 600 people in the world hold Vatican passports. One of those is the pope, but there are also more than 100 Swiss guards, a handful of cardinals, and even one nun. The remainder of the Vatican’s populace are expats, acting as religious diplomats and serving the Vatican’s interests abroad.

During the reunification of Italy in 1870, Italian troops stormed the Vatican’s walls, and in protest, Pope Pius IX barricaded himself and refused to emerge, fearing it would be perceived as giving legitimacy to Italy’s new secular authorities. His successors continued the protest until 1929, when the modern state of Vatican City was created and formally separated from Italy.

At just 1,000 feet long, the Vatican’s national railway network is the shortest in the world. There’s only one station, which is situated in the Vatican’s gardens. Every Saturday, tourists can board the train in Vatican City and ride to the papal summer residence in the lakeside town of Castel Gandolfo, just outside Rome.

It’s not immediately obvious to casual tourists where the Vatican’s border with Italy starts and ends, but it measures about two miles in total. The border is a fortified wall in some places, but in others it is simply the edge of a building. And in the case of St. Peter’s Square, there is no border at all: Visitors simply cross into Vatican territory as soon as they walk into it.

Even though the Vatican doesn’t have a stadium, it does have its own soccer team. The sport has long been a feature of Vatican life, as the first clubs were officially set up after World War II. Vatican City has both a men’s and women’s national team — mostly made up of priests, Swiss guards, and other Vatican employees — who compete in jerseys emblazoned with the Olympic rings and the emblem of the city.

The Vatican has its own national bank, which operates three ATMs in the country, including one in St. Peter’s Square. The Vatican Bank machines are the only ATMs in the world that allow users to make transactions in Latin. If you accidentally select that language option and are wondering what the first screen means, “Inserito scidulam quaeso” translates to “insert your card.”

All of Vatican City is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which makes it the only country whose entirety is listed by the organization. Little wonder why: The Vatican houses priceless works of art by Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini, and others — plus, there are endless treasures from other prolific societies (including ancient Egypt) as well as the opulent tomb of St. Peter.

When it’s time for a new pope to be elected, the Vatican has a centuries-old system of letting the rest of the world know about it: Officials will emit colored smoke from the Sistine Chapel’s chimneys. Black smoke means the College of Cardinals have not made their decision yet, but white smoke means there’s a new pontiff in town.

At 0.2 square miles, Vatican City is the world’s smallest country by land area (and by population). Entirely surrounded by the city of Rome, the Vatican is the global headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church and was declared an independent city-state in 1929. Though tiny, Vatican City does have its own post office, a banking system, and a radio station.

Officially called Vatican City State, this walled nation is entirely surrounded by the city of Rome. It is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church and the home of the Pope. Though its history as a sacred site extends back centuries, Vatican City became a sovereign nation in 1929, when the Lateran Pacts were signed, ending an ongoing land dispute between the Catholic Church and the Italian government.

Dressed in yellow, navy, and red medieval-style robes (complete with feathery berets and puffy breeches), the Swiss Guard are an elite unit of the Swiss army solely responsible for watching over the pope and keeping the Vatican safe. The Swiss Guard is often dubbed the “world’s smallest army,” and its soldiers live in a special barracks on the eastern side of Vatican City.