00120 Vatican

00120 Vatican is the number that turns up on tickets, maps and official letters, and many visitors wonder what it means. In short, it is the code that official Vatican addresses use for places inside Vatican City. This page explains where you will see it, how it differs from Roman codes, and how to use it when you book, navigate or write to an office.

I’m an independent guide, not an official body. I point to the official pages for every address and figure I cite.

What Does 00120 Vatican Mean?

00120 Vatican refers to the code used in addresses within Vatican City. It appears in the address lines of the places visitors know best, and the official pages I checked use it in the same way.

The Vatican Museums are listed at “00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City.” St. Peter’s Basilica is listed at “Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City,” and the Sistine Chapel at the same code. The official Excavations Office, which runs visits to the Necropolis, gives its address as “00120 Vatican City State” (official Excavations Office page).

The code is a signal. If an address carries 00120, the place is inside the city-state, not just near it.

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Where 00120 Vatican Appears in Real Addresses

You will see 00120 on tickets, official contact pages and map listings. The table collects the examples I found in the official pages and map listings.

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The last row shows the contrast. A restaurant a short walk away lists a Roman code, 00165, and the city name Roma. So the code tells you which side of the border you are on, which is handy when you plan where to eat or meet.

The Basilica’s Mailing Address

The official Holy Masses page of St. Peter’s Basilica shows how an address is written for mail. Choirs who wish to sing at Mass are told to write to the Archpriest of the Vatican Basilica at “00120 Vatican City” (official Holy Masses page).

The same page lists the weekday Masses, from 7 am at the Altar of St. Joseph through to 6 pm at the Altar of the Cathedra. If you plan to attend, my page on Mass times at St. Peter’s Basilica goes through the schedule.

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00120 Vatican by the Numbers

These figures come from Wikidata’s Vatican City entry. They show how small the territory behind the code is.

• Area: 0.44 km². You can cross the state on foot, so the code covers a very compact area.
• Population: 949 residents (2024). Few people live behind the code, so most addresses you see belong to offices and sites.
• Founded: 11 February 1929, the date of the Lateran Treaty settlement.
• Heritage status: World Heritage Site, which is why the basilica, chapel and museums share one setting.
• Currency: euro. You pay in euros here, as in Rome.
• Official languages: Italian and Latin. Expect Italian on signs and forms.
• Internet domain and calling code: .va and +379. Official sites end in .va, which helps you spot fakes.

Wikipedia and Wikidata round the area and population differently, so treat both sets of figures as approximate.

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Is 00120 Vatican City Part of Rome?

No. Vatican City is a sovereign city-state, and it sits as an enclave within the city of Rome, according to Wikipedia. The Roman question was settled in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, which established the modern sovereign state.

The numbers are small. Wikipedia gives Vatican City an area of 0.49 square kilometres and a population of about 882, which makes it both the smallest country by area and the least populous. It is governed by the Holy See and ruled by the pope, who is elected by the College of Cardinals.

My page on where the Vatican is explains the geography further, and the page on the capital of the Vatican answers the question some visitors ask about a “capital.” For a general overview, see the Vatican pillar guide and the About Vatican City hub.

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How to Use 00120 Vatican When You Navigate

Use the street name, not just the code. The code tells you the area, but each site has its own entrance, and mixing them up costs time.

Here is how the main places differ:

• St. Peter’s Basilica. The address is Piazza San Pietro. Visitors pass security checks in St. Peter’s Square before entering.
• Vatican Museums. The address carries the same code, but tour instructions send visitors to the entrance on Viale Vaticano, where they show their ticket to the guards.
• Necropolis. The Excavations Office has its own entrance, described on its page as the south (left) entrance just outside the colonnade.

A traveler who arrived early at the basilica describes how quickly the security line moved:

“Do not miss this place for a FREE location! This is the most beautiful church I've ever been to. Once your through security and the main doors, you are truly hit by the size and artwork. We got there 645am and already there's a line but got in very quickly. If your just there for free visit, you can see most of it in 40mins. Pay extra for the other locations.”

That reviewer arrived at 6:45 am, and the listing shows the basilica opening at 7 am every day. The Vatican Museums list 8 am to 8 pm, closed on Sundays. Check the official pages for current hours, since closures and events change.

If you want a clear plan for the museums and the basilica together, you can see every ticket type side by side on our homepage.

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Visiting the Necropolis at 00120 Vatican

The Necropolis visit is run by the Excavations Office, and it works differently from a museum ticket. The official page says the individual ticket costs 13 euros (about $14.51 at the ECB reference rate of 2026-11-06), including the contribution for the guide, and that no reductions in price will be given for any reason.

The office lists its hours as Monday to Friday from 9 am to 6 pm and Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm. Visits are by reservation, and requests should be sent directly by the visitor where possible (official reservations page).

Three details from that page matter if you plan to apply:

1. No fixed deadlines. Requests are fulfilled depending on the places left at the closest date to the one requested.
2. Required information. You must give the exact number of participants, their names, the language requested and possible dates.
3. Groups. Those leading universities, parishes, cultural associations or agencies must send a full list of names and the organization.

Requests can be made in writing by fax or in person at the Excavations Office, using the south entrance just outside the colonnade. The time is set by the office, not by you. The basilica’s own site also lists the Necropolis among its offers, so check both places before you plan.

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Tickets for Places With a 00120 Vatican Address

Most visitors need a Vatican Museums ticket, since the museums and the Sistine Chapel share one entry. Prices, fees and reductions change, so check them on the official Vatican Museums site before you pay, and be careful with websites that imitate it.

If you want a guide, the listings I reviewed fall into three styles:

• An entry ticket for your own pace, where travelers say timed entry makes access easier.
• A guided tour of the museums, the Sistine Chapel and the basilica, where travelers praise knowledgeable guides.
• A longer guided tour with a skip-the-line entry and headsets.

One reviewer who could not use a guide because of a wheelchair still found the audio-guide route rewarding:

“We were unable to do this with a guide due to my child being in a wheelchair. We did the tour on our own with an audio guide. The Vatican was beautiful and we did get to see most of the sights”

My guide to Vatican Museum tickets covers each fare, and the page for St. Peter’s Basilica covers the church.

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00120 Vatican and the Piazza San Pietro Address

The most searched address with this code is Piazza San Pietro. My companion page on the full Piazza San Pietro 00120 Città del Vaticano address covers that exact string and what it points to.

In short, Piazza San Pietro is the square in front of the basilica, and the map block below shows it alongside the other main sites.

The listings show the basilica open daily, while the museums and the Sistine Chapel are closed on Sundays. That makes a Sunday a basilica day. Keep in mind that the basilica entry is free of charge according to tour data, though access may vary with crowd control.

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A Short History Behind the Border

The border exists because of a political settlement, not an old city wall alone. Wikipedia explains that Italian unification concluded with the capture of Rome by the Kingdom of Italy in 1870, after which the pope declared himself a “prisoner in the Vatican.” The Roman question was settled in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty (Vatican City on Wikipedia).

Earlier history shaped the place too. Catholic theology holds that Saint Peter was crucified on Vatican Hill in the first century AD. The Holy See first exercised temporal power over the Papal States, which formed on the Italian Peninsula with the donation of Frankish territory in 756, and the pope returned to Rome at the end of the Avignon Papacy in 1377.

Today the Holy See maintains diplomatic relations with 180 states. For a traveler, the useful fact is simpler: the territory marked by 00120 is a World Heritage Site that includes St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Apostolic Palace, the Vatican Library and the Vatican Museums.

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What Sits Inside the 00120 Vatican Area

A short list helps you picture what the code covers. These are the places named in the sources I used.

• St. Peter’s Basilica. A major church in Vatican City, listed open daily from 7 am to 7:10 pm.
• The Vatican Museums. The galleries and the Sistine Chapel, listed open Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 8 pm and closed on Sundays.
• The Sistine Chapel. A chapel in the Apostolic Palace, reached through the museum route.
• The Necropolis. The excavations under the basilica, visited by reservation through the Excavations Office.
• The Apostolic Palace and the Vatican Library. Both are named in the World Heritage listing that Wikipedia describes.

Outside the line, Rome carries on with its own codes. That is why a short walk from the basilica takes you from a 00120 address to a 00165 one without any sign other than the street.

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Planning Around the Two Sets of Addresses

Many trips mix the two sides. You might sleep in Rome, enter the city-state for the morning and eat outside it for lunch. Keeping the codes straight makes bookings easier.

Here is a simple way to handle it:

1. Write down each address as given. Copy the line from your voucher, including the code, so you can show it to a driver.
2. Match the entrance to the ticket. A museum voucher points to Viale Vaticano, while a basilica visit starts in St. Peter’s Square.
3. Allow walking time between entrances. Moving from the museum entrance to St. Peter’s Square takes time, so do not stack two timed visits back to back.
4. Check the Roman side separately. A restaurant or hotel will show a Roman code, and that is normal.

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Why the Code Matters for Bookings

The code matters most when you fill in a form. Ticket sellers, hotels and delivery services sometimes ask for an address, and a Vatican address with 00120 will not match a Roman one. If a form rejects the code, choose the country option for Vatican City where it exists, or enter the street name as the place shows it.

Tour operators avoid the problem by giving a meeting point in words. Several listings I reviewed meet at a partner office, not at the gate, and the instructions say plainly that St. Peter’s Square is not the meeting point. Read that line before you use a map, because the pin for a meeting point may carry a Roman code even though the tour then walks into the city-state.

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Common Questions About 00120 Vatican

Visitors ask a handful of questions again and again, and the answers are short.

Is it one code for the whole state? Every address I found uses 00120, and the code appears before “Vatican City” or “Città del Vaticano.” I did not find a second code for the state in the sources.

Does it matter for taxis or maps? Mostly no. Use the place name or the street, such as Piazza San Pietro or Viale Vaticano, since a map app finds those faster than a code.

Can I rely on the code to know I am in the state? As a rule of thumb yes, because Roman places nearby use Roman codes. Check the address line, not only the number.

Do I need to write 00120 on a letter? Official offices write it in their own addresses, so copying their format is sensible. Follow the format shown on the page of the office you are writing to.

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Final Notes on 00120 Vatican

Treat 00120 Vatican as a handy label for the city-state, and use street names to find the entrance you want. The code appears in the official addresses of the basilica, the museums, the Excavations Office and the Archpriest, and it is absent from places in Rome.

For planning, book your museum ticket on the official shop or through a listing that states its inclusions, check the hours, and dress for a place of worship. Then use the right entrance for each site, and the postal details will take care of themselves.

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