26 March 2011

HVJ 105 FM

As we were walking in the Vatican gardens, our tour guide pointed out a few radio antennae and some menacingly large satellite dishes. These, apparently, were for broadcasting vatican radio, which the state does in a variety of formats: short wave, medium wave, FM and satellite. It's available in many parts of the world in 47 languages and can be streamed live on the internet here and here.
The channel has a long history, dating back to 1931, when the first papal radio address was a huge sensation. Guglielmo Marconi, a famed radio-technology pioneer and Italian hero, set up the original station at the Vatican (which we saw) and introduced the pope's first speech. We don't have a radio at our apartment, so we haven't listened yet.

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