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Swiss Guards

cfrobins_090726_1905_rome_vatican-swiss-guards

Happy Friday, and now for today’s history lesson.

January 22nd, 1506,(who writes that stuff down) is the official date of birth of the Pontifical Swiss Guard (Schweizergarde), because on that day, towards the evening, a group of one hundred and fifty Swiss soldiers commanded by Captain Kasparvon Silenen, of Canton Uri, passed through the Porta del Popolo and entered for the first time the Vatican, where they were blessed by Pope Julius II.  Today, these men, of Swiss citizenship, is responsible for the safety of the Pope, including the security of the Apostolic Palace, servicing as the de facto military of Vatican City.

Dispensing with the history lesson:   Man…..how cool are these duds?!?!?!!!!!!!!  The Rat Pack would definitely approve.  I mean, you need to have a set of grapefruits to not only wear these uniforms, but, to walk around with a sabre and be responsible for protecting the Pope.

I was in Rome not long ago on a private tour of the excavations of the Vatican necropolis where under the cupola and alter in St. Peter’s Basilica is the spot where St. Peter was crucified, upside down I might add.  The Roman’s, 2,000 years ago, really know how to hurt someone – not like today’s pansy-ass treatment of political prisoners.  I mean, that was some really medieval treatment.  Hey, let’s crucify that guy upside-down.  Makes water-boarding seem team, don’t you think?

To enter this private area of the Vatican, you are greeted by these guards and only allowed to pass with the proper credentials.  Even with my 5′ 10″, blue-eyed, (fake) blonde & beautiful girl with me, no batting of the eyes could get these guys to budge without the right passes.  And password.  Kidding.

I snapped this shot as we were approaching the entry gates on the side of the basilica…they really were very friendly and accommodating to our touristic ways….ciao ciao.

Posted on Friday, September 23rd, 2011 at 4:18 pm. Filed under: Uncategorized RSS 2.0 feed.

One Response to “Swiss Guards”

  1. Griffin Robins says:
    September 23, 2011 at 10:41 pm

    nice shot dad

    Reply

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