NovaRomaNova Roma is the planet that is the headquarters of the Catholic Church in the Galaxy (for the Church was given the planet by Divis Mal the Emperor in perpetuity). Perhaps between a fifth and a third of its population are clergy; the rest of the population divide between servicing their needs, and running hostels and hotels for the pilgrims who flock to visit the Church. One way of earning credits within the Church is to visit on pilgrimage; another is to spend a year or so working for the church, perhaps spreading the terraforming of the Southern continent (the smaller Northern is currently left for natural vegetation). The greatest city on Nova Roma is Vatican City, although other cities and towns have grown up around a series of monasteries and shrines, deliberately sited to honour various saints (Earth-bound and Galactic). Vatican City is, obviously, the home of the Vatican, the core of the Catholic organisation. It is also one of the greatest collections of art and architecture in the galaxy. Not only have the possessions accumulated on Earth over the millennia been transported here, but the devout throughout the galaxy have -- over the centuries -- worked to equal and excel the creations of their forebears. The result is magnificent and perhaps a little overbearing. Certaily the heavily baroque Vatican Palace would strike the casual visitor as somewhat overly baroque. No column, it seems, is without its flourishes; no panel on any wall seemingly left unadorned. As one traverses the Farnese Corridor to the official offices of the Pope himself, it is quite common to find visitors standing stock still to gaze up at the marvel of the ceiling, painted in the twenty-third century by Bernaleschew -- and still as rich and beautiful as ever inits depiction of the journey of the Magi. |
