Holy mysteries

There are no hospitals or prisons in the Vatican: Here's why

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Located in the heart of Rome, the Vatican is a city-state with roots that stretch far beyond its official founding year. And while you might think you’ve heard all about it, the world’s smallest country still holds plenty of secrets. Let’s uncover 10 fascinating facts hidden within its walls.

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In July 1969, the United States sent the first humans who reached the moon. But what exactly did the astronauts bring along with them? Believe it or not, a small Vatican City flag flew aboard Apollo 11 and made it all the way to the moon. Later, President Nixon presented that same flag to Pope Paul VI.

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Wine in the Vatican isn’t just for Mass. In fact, this tiny city-state has the world’s highest wine consumption per capita! That may sound shocking, but it becomes a little more reasonable when you consider two things: there are no children in the population, so almost everyone is of drinking age, and residents also enjoy tax-free wine.

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Did you know there are no hospitals and no delivery rooms at all? That’s right! You can’t become a Vatican citizen by birth. Citizenship is granted only based on a person’s role or employment within the Holy See.

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You can’t just choose to live in the Vatican. Just as citizenship isn’t granted by birth, it isn’t permanent either. Those who become citizens hold it only temporarily, and it’s revoked once their service ends.

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Due to the large number of daily visitors, minor crimes like pickpocketing can occur. However, the Vatican doesn’t have a formal prison system. While there are a few temporary detention facilities, anyone sentenced to prison serves their time in Italian jails.

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It turns out no one has pets inside the Vatican walls, and it’s not because they don’t like animals. There is actually a rule that prohibits pets from living in or visiting the Vatican and its main attractions. While this might sound strange at first, it actually makes a lot of sense: the ban exists because the Vatican functions primarily as a high-security workplace and religious site, where noise, dirt, or pet waste wouldn’t be ideal. Of course, there are exceptions, such as guide dogs or therapy animals.

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The Vatican is filled with incredible works by the master Michelangelo, with the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel being among the most famous. But there’s only one piece actually signed by Michelangelo himself, and it’s right here in the Vatican. More precisely, it’s in St. Peter’s Basilica: the breathtaking sculpture titled "The Pietà," completed when he was just about 24 years old.

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The Vatican Museums are the public museums of Vatican City, housing around 70,000 works of art! Together, their corridors and halls stretch nearly 10 miles and attract over 15 million visitors each year. In addition, you can explore the incredible Bramante Staircase, with a double-helix design that is mind-blowing.

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With so many rooms and corridors, there are also countless doors, which means countless keys. Around 2,700, to be more precise. That’s right: each morning, the museum guards are responsible for opening every single one.

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Lingua Latina pars fundamentalis Vaticani est. But if that sentence didn’t make sense to you, you might want to bring cash when visiting the Vatican. Why? Well, their ATMs are in Latin! The good news: Italian and English are also available, so we’re covered.

Who said that?

No, the queen didn't say "Let them eat cake": Oddly misattributed quotes

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Some of history’s most often repeated sayings were never actually said. At least not by the people we love to credit. You have probably read dozens of quotes wrongly attributed to Albert Einstein or Oscar Wilde, but Marilyn Monroe also made the list. As did Marie Antoinette! Today, we are setting the record straight on some of the most stubborn quote myths.

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Despite her reputation for extravagance, there’s no evidence that Marie Antoinette ever uttered these words. The quote "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche" is often pinned on her as a symbol of her indifference to the hardships of starving peasants.

However, the phrase first appears in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions, which he started writing in 1765, when Marie was just about nine years old and still living in Austria.

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The famous story about young George confessing to chopping down a cherry tree is pure fiction, cooked up by biographer Mason Locke Weems after Washington’s death.

There’s no evidence Washington ever said this. Weems simply wanted to craft a moral and visually memorable legend for America’s first president.

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While "The Prince" does argue that rulers sometimes need to be ruthless, Niccolò Machiavelli never wrote "the ends justify the means."

The phrase is a simplified (and distorted) summary of much more complicated ideas he discussed about power and politics.

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The force of the Roman Inquisition fell upon Galileo, the father of modern astronomy who defended heliocentrism. He supposedly muttered this famous phrase after being forced to counter his views, defending that the Earth did move around the sun.

However, there’s no contemporary record of the defiant line being spoken. It first appeared decades later, in a biography written well after Galileo’s death.

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Michael Jackson did sustain that he was starting by changing "the man in the mirror," and Mahatma Gandhi probably would have agreed. But the exact words of the famous line were never said by the real Gandhi.

His advice was much more nuanced about personal responsibility and social reform. The polished quote is a bit of a paraphrase meant to capture his philosophy in a nutshell.

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You can thank Marilyn Monroe for a lot, but not this quote. Although often typed on posters next to her iconic photos, the line was actually written by historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich in a 1976 scholarly article.

She wasn’t encouraging rebellion either: She was observing that history tends to overlook women who "color inside the lines."

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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote many lines spoken through his famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. But this one –perhaps the most often repeated line– wasn’t among them!

Yes, Watson was Holmes’ dear sidekick, and probably Sherlock used the word "elementary" at some point. Still, the straight line "Elementary, my dear Watson" cannot be found anywhere in the original texts.

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Oscar Wilde, a master of aphorisms, had wit to spare. Many lines can be attributed to him. This one, however, doesn’t ring like those by the author of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

The saying doesn't appear in any of his writings or documented conversations. It likely emerged around the end of the 20th century, stitched together by fans who loved the idea of Wilde’s spirit.

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"... and expecting different results." You might have read this quote and felt inspired by it. Although often attributed to Albert Einstein, there's no record of him saying it.

Some say that the earliest known appearance is in a 1980s Narcotics Anonymous pamphlet. The internet did its job and blurred the origins of the quote.

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This one is only slightly incorrect. Thomas Hardy fans, take note: The correct line is "far from the madding crowd." And, in fact, Hardy borrowed it from Thomas Gray’s 1751 poem Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, which read "Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife." "Madding" meant frenzied, not "maddening."

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Vince Lombardi gets the credit, but even he said he was misquoted! The original line came from UCLA coach Red Sanders, who reportedly told his team this hard-hitting slogan in the 1950s. Lombardi’s version was similar but way less cutthroat: He said, "Winning isn't a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing."

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Paul Revere didn’t actually yell this because, back in 1775, that would have been confusing. Most colonial Americans still considered themselves British.

What he likely said was something closer to "The Regulars are coming out" or "The Redcoats are on the move." He also didn’t yell, since secrecy was key for his mission.