- US Embassy in Rome is a fortress of walls, cameras and barriers. A huge place. All US Embassies in Europe are fortresses. Unique and indeed foreign compared with other diplomatic missions.
Interesting points.
A thread started yesterday, almost made it sound like the U.S. Embassy-to-"Holy-See" that is being moved to the greater U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Italy (Embassy Rome), was being moved from Vatican City, itself.
The Michael Schaus article from Townhall, at the header of this FR thread, seems to be laboring under that same erroneous assumption, by which I mean, the US Embassy to the Vatican is not presently now, or has ever been in Vatican City.
Before doing some checking, I had something of the same thoughts as Shaus expressed here;
- Besides: We’re talking about theUS Embassy. . . In Vatican City. [italicizing intact, from Townhall source article] It’s not as if we’re discussing an un-fortified compound in the heart of a Libyan war-zone.
The U.S. Embassy Vatican has never been in that city-state that lay entirely within the city of Rome, but has been located on Aventine Hill (one of the famous 7 hills of Rome) since 1984, when official US diplomatic ties were first established with that entity known as "Holy See" (they like it when they are called that - makes 'em feel special).
In light of the U.S. not having fully formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See (having consular level contact, but lacking full ambassadorial level for those times prior to loss of the Papal States, with later there having been envoys to popes, and almost always some representation/communication first to the Papal States, then later to contact those at 'Vatican City'; it stands that all should be reminded there was no "Vatican City", until such was created 1926 as answer to what in those times was referred to as the Roman question. It could (should?) be noted Pius IX was stubborn to the end, not wanted to cede Quirinal Palace refusing to hand over the keys (showing that papal 'thought' at the time, included having secular rule as a king of sorts as being their own 'divine right' like other 'kings', etc.).
Meanwhile, there is still diplomatic presence of the Vatican, to the U.S. They have a nice building, sort-of between Norway and Finland, kind-of across street from Naval Observatory grounds, in Washington, D.C.