mailboxes of the world: Vatican City

Vatican City is its own sovereign country walled off inside of Rome. It is the smallest country in the world and it is an absolute monarchy, with the Pope in charge! Poste Vaticane has operated its own postal service and issued its own postage stamps since 1929. The Vatican mailboxes are very similar to Italy’s, but yellow instead of red. However, you cannot use Italian stamps in the Vatican, or vice versa.

The Vatican Post Office was my first stop after touring the Vatican Museums and St Peter’s Basilica last week. It is set up for tourists, with lots of postcards, souvenirs, and stamps to buy. I sent five postcards from the Vatican. Supposedly, the Vatican postal service is exceptionally reliable, so I hope they all arrive!!

I hear that stamps and mail from the Vatican is quite collectible. I wish I had sent myself a postcard!!