200 Years of the Vatican City Gendarmerie Corps

A Vatican gendarme before St Peter's Basilica; the inscription 'CORPO DELLA GENDARMERIA 1816 2016', the state name 'CITTÀ DEL VATICANO', the name of designer Daniela Longo, the initials of engraver Silvia Petrassi, and the mint mark 'R'.

The Corpo della Gendarmeria dello Stato della Città del Vaticano traces its origins to a founding by Pope Pius VII in 1816. In a Papal State that at the time still comprised a substantial territory in central Italy, a reliable uniformed police and security force was an administrative necessity. After the end of the temporal Papal States in 1870 and the creation of Vatican City through the Lateran Treaty of 1929, the corps took up its duties in the new state territory, now confined to a few hectares. Since then, the Gendarmerie has been the Vatican's sole civilian police authority: it is responsible for public order, crime prevention, border control, and the protection of the Pope in coordination with the Swiss Guard.

Today the corps numbers around 130 officers and cooperates closely with Italian security authorities, since Vatican City is entirely enclosed by Rome. Operational links with Interpol and cooperation during major events on St. Peter's Square are among the practical challenges facing a micro-state of global religious significance. To mark the corps' 200th anniversary, the Vatican issued a 2-euro commemorative coin in 2016 honoring the continuous history of this institution.