Top 20 Vatican, Rome vacation rentals & luxury serviced apartments

It's not always clear when places become popular tourist destinations. However, with the Vatican City, we know the exact date – 67AD when the apostle St Peter was martyred at the foot of the Vatican Hill and buried nearby. Over the next 2000 years, his modest tomb would evolve into St Peter's Basilica, the centre of the Catholic Church and one of the most visited spots in Rome. The Vatican is technically independent from Italy (it’s the smallest sovereign state in the world), and given the wealth of the Church, it contains one of the greatest collections of European art in the world. Beyond the Vatican, there’s a grid of streets, typically heaving during the day and empty at night, which run between St. Peter’s and the Castel Sant’Angelo.