ON THE INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF VATICAN CITY

The smallest state in the world, the Vatican City developed from a palace of the Pope on Monte Vaticano in Rome and was recognised as independent in 1929 by a treaty with the fascist government of Italy. It has no industry and must be supplied from outside with virtually all necessities, including electricity, gas and water. The closest the Vatican City has to an industry is its Printing Office, founded by Sixtus V as early as 1587. In 1934, a railway station for trains of the Italian state railways was built in the gardens behind St. Peter's Basilica. The first pope to use it was John-Paul XXIII in 1962. In the meantime, tourist excursions to the papal summer palace in Castel Gandolfo are also offered from there.