The Swiss Guard -- 500 Years Old



The Swiss Guard was established 500 years ago yesterday by Pope Julius II (della Rovere). You can view an RTE news report on the anniversary ceremony via RealPlay at this link. The Swiss Guard has its own section on the Vatican website here. There is a wealth of interesting history there, including a short essay on those uniforms. ("Camo" isn't in it.) A few more good pictures can be found here. Don't be misled by the sepia miniatures; they click into full-sized colour photos.


[The picture was scanned in from a special photo essay on the Guard published in 1994 by the always-beautifully-illustrated Inside the Vatican magazine.]