The next pope will prepare to engage the masses in his private office above St. Peter's Square.
Here's the view from the outside.
The cardinals sleep and eat at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, a residence in Vatican City, during the conclave process.
Each day, they walk from the Domus Sanctae Marthae to the Sistine Chapel, where voting is conducted.
The Council for the Proclamation of Saints decides who is canonized in this off-limits conference room.
The pope and his assistants will prepare letters and official documents in the study of the Papal Apartments.
The pope entertains guests in a private dining room, where the food is "simple, but good."
Pope Benedict occasionally played piano in the private papal living room.
The Swiss Guard, the world's smallest standing army, stocks its gear under the streets of Vatican City.
The garments that the guards wear under their 8-pound uniforms are made from scratch in the tailoring room.
The Papal Sacristy (the pope's walk-in closet) holds treasures handed down from previous popes.
Three restoration laboratories for marble, tapestries and paintings sit beneath the Vatican's museums and galleries.
Tapestries are rehabilitated in this immaculate white room.
This two-story underground bunker houses the secret archives.
The archives comprise over 50 miles of shelves that include invaluable artifacts, such as a note written by Michelangelo dated January 1550.
In a room near the secret archives, one man restores the thousands of wax seals from letters sent to the Vatican over the centuries.
The Vatican Printing Press, which was founded in 1626, handles over 5,000 orders per year printed in at least 15 languages.
The Vatican radio station broadcasts in 40 different languages (and costs $25 million per year to run).
The body of Pope John Paul II lies in the grottoes below St. Peter's Basilica.
Also under St. Peter's basilica is the supposed tomb of St. Peter (i.e. the first pope).
The Room of Tears is where the new Pope will put on his white papal vestment for the first time.
Here's how tourists see Vatican City.
