About
Another country within Rome, one without a real territory, is housed inside this structure.
Technically speaking, Vatican City and San Marino are not the only countries that exist within Italy. In fact, there is also the Order of Malta, a Roman Catholic lay religious order that functions as a sovereign entity of international law, albeit without a physical territory. Established as an offshoot of the medieval Knights Hospitaller, the Order of Malta was, as its name suggests, originally based on the island of Malta, which was given to them in 1530 by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The island was invaded by Napoleon in 1798, then taken over by the British Empire in 1814, leaving the Order of Malta without any physical territory at all.
