Text

<center>
<img height='150' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/917.jpg'>
<img height='150' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/918.jpg'>
<img height='150' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/919.jpg'></center>
 
<center>Saint Peter's Basilica (Scott 917) 
Saint John Lateran Basilica (Scott 918) 
Saint Mary Major Basilica (Scott 919) </center>
<center>
<img height='150' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/920.jpg'>
<img height='150' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/921.jpg'>
<img height='150' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/922.jpg'></center>
 
<center>Saint Paul's Basilica (Scott 920) 
Apostolic Palace, Vatican (Scott 921) 
Apostolic Palace, Lateran (Scott 922)</center>
 
<center>
<img height='150' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/923.jpg'>
<img height='150' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/924.jpg'>
<img height='150' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/925.jpg'></center>
 
<center>Papal Palace, Castelgandolfo (Scott 923) 
Chancery Palace, Rome (Scott 924) 
Palace of Propaganda Fide, Rome (Scott 925)</center>
 
<center>
<img height='150' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/926.jpg'> 
San Calisto Palace, Rome (Scott 926)</center>
 
On March 23, 1993, Vatican City issued a set of ten definitive stamps under the title Art Treasures of Vatican City.
 
The stamps illustrated depict ten sites representing the artistic patrimony of the Holy See. The sites are located both within the boundaries of the Vatican City state and in its extraterritorial spaces. The UFN release for the stamps states:
<blockquote>
"The artistic patrimony of the Holy See, located in the Vatican and in some extraterritorial areas in the city of Rome and the Roman hills (Castelgandolfo) have inestimable religious, historical and cultural value. The Lateran Treaty with Italy (1929) and the inclusion in the World Patrimony of Vatican City (1984) and the extraterritorial property of the Holy See (1990) safeguard and protect the integrity of this patrimony."
</blockquote>
All stamps in the series were issued in sheet form. In addition, the first four stamps were issued in booklet form. The booklet cover bears a photo of Saint Peter's Dome, and the booklet contains four pages of four stamps each of the first four stamps in the issue. Here is the book cover and the booklet pane for the first stamp in the set, showing Saint Peter's Basilica:
 
<center>
<img height='400' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/917a.jpg'> 
Booklet Cover and First Booklet Pane (Scott 917a)</center>
 
REFERENCES: 
<li>UFN, March 23, 1993, <a href='https://vaticanstamps.org/UFN/images/1993-2-05-1.jpg'>Art Treasures of Vatican City</a> 
<li>Vatican Philatelic Society website, www.vaticanstamps.org, Stamp Database Search

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