Vatican heliport
| Vatican Heliport PORTVS HELICOPTERORVM |
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|---|---|
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| Characteristics | |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 75 m (246 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | about 0.9 km west of St. Peter's Square |
| Street | Clivio delle Mura Vaticane |
| train | Vatican City train station |
| Basic data | |
| opening | 1976 |
| surface | approx. 0.21 ha |
| Start-and runway | |
| H 01/19 | 25 m × 17 m concrete |
The Vatican Heliport ( lat.Portus helicopterorum Civitatis Vaticanæ ) is the helipad of the Vatican City .
history
The heliport was put into operation in 1976. Paul VI was commissioned to build it . given to transport the Pope and guests of state of the Holy See without obstructing road traffic . During the summer months, the popes were flown from this heliport to the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo on Lake Albano, around 25 km away , and through this connection they were also able to regularly supervise official business in the Vatican City. There were always long roadblocks, lasting up to a few hours, when the Pope drove through Rome to Castel Gandolfo by car . This caused anger among the Roman population.
In 1978 John Paul II had a bronze statue of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa set up at the heliport.
Location and use
The heliport is located in the southwest of the Vatican City, in the area of the westernmost bastion of the Vatican Wall, otherwise it borders on the Vatican Gardens . It is used to connect the Vatican to the international airports of Rome-Ciampino and Rome-Fiumicino and especially for pastoral trips in Italy . There are hardly any more flights to Castel Gandolfo, as Pope Francis had the summer residence converted into a museum. Rescue helicopters have been able to fly to the Vatican Heliport since 2015 in order to transport emergency patients more quickly to a neighboring children's clinic.
