How tall is the Vatican wall?
The walls were constructed in brick-faced concrete, 3.5 m (11 ft) thick and 8 m (26 ft) high, with a square tower every 100 Roman feet (29.6 m (97 ft)). In the 4th century, remodeling doubled the height of the walls to 16 m (52 ft).
That's a pretty good wall just for separating the Vatican... fact is The Vatican walls were built to keep out pirates. (Wait that wasn't what you were expecting? Weird.)
During the 9th century, Saracen pirates were pillaging much of southern Italy. When they sacked St. Peter's in 846, Pope Leo IV decided he needed a little extra protection. A 39-foot-tall wall was constructed around Leonine City, an area that included the current Vatican territory.
Let's not forget we have the Swiss Army to protect them.
So initially they were built to protect and secure, but over the years maybe not as much, but could if needed to go into lockdown. |
