Vatican City Heliport ( la, Portus helicopterorum Civitatis Vaticanae, it, Eliporto di Città del Vaticano) consists of a rectangular concrete landing area linked with a circular parking area.
It is used for short journeys from or to
Vatican City
Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—'
* german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ')
* pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—'
* pt, Cidade do Vati ...
by the
pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
and visiting
heads of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...
.
Structure
The
heliport
A heliport is a small airport suitable for use by helicopters and some other vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. I ...
is at above sea level, in the French-style portion of the
Vatican Gardens
The Gardens of Vatican City ( la, Horti Civitatis Vaticanae), also informally known as the Vatican Gardens ( it, Giardini Vaticani) in Vatican City, are private urban gardens and parks which cover more than half of the country, located in the ...
, and is referred to also as a
helipad.
It is situated in the westernmost
bastion of the
Leonine Wall, which marks the
westernmost point of Vatican City State.
History
It was constructed in 1976 under
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...
(1963–1978), facilitating transfers between Vatican City and the summer
papal residence at
Castel Gandolfo for occasions such as the regular Wednesday
general audience, when travel by car could take a couple of hours each way and would cause inconvenience to other road users.
In 1978,
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
had a bronze statue representing
Our Lady of Częstochowa
Our or OUR may refer to:
* The possessive form of " we"
* Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany
* Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium
* Our, Jura, a commune in France
* Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulato ...
placed nearby.
Operation
Flights are conducted only in
visual meteorological conditions
In aviation, visual meteorological conditions (VMC) is an aviation flight category in which visual flight rules (VFR) flight is permitted—that is, conditions in which pilots have sufficient visibility to fly the aircraft maintaining visual se ...
by
visual flight rules
In aviation, visual flight rules (VFR) are a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better ...
.
Worldwide publicity was given to the heliport on the afternoon of 28 February 2013, when
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
departed Vatican City for
Castel Gandolfo mere hours before
his resignation took effect.
Since 2015, the heliport also serves—in urgent cases—the
Bambino Gesù Hospital
Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù (''Baby Jesus Paediatric Hospital'') is a tertiary care academic children's hospital located in Rome that is under extraterritorial jurisdiction of the Holy See. As a tertiary children referral centre, the hos ...
to
transport patients, personnel, and medical equipment.
The helicopter used for the pope is an
AgustaWestland AW139
The AgustaWestland AW139 is a medium-lift twin-engined helicopter developed and produced by the Anglo-Italian helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland, later wholly owned by Leonardo S.p.A. It is marketed at several different roles, including V ...
of the
Italian Air Force
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 28 March ...
.
See also
*
Index of Vatican City-related articles
*
Transport in Vatican City
The transportation system in Vatican City, a country long and wide, is a small transportation system with no airports or highways. There is no public transport in the country. A heliport and a short railway are used for special occasions only. M ...
References
External links
A visit to the Vatican Gardens (page 2)Vatican City Heliport
{{Vatican City topics
Transport in Vatican City
Heliports