Your guide to the curiosities and the hidden secrets in Rome. The Swiss guards are the private guards of the pope. Julius II, also called the war pope, established the Swiss guards in 1506 since the Swiss guards were very trustable. At this time most of the royal families in Europe used the Swiss guards but today only the Vatican State remained with this tradition. Following to the tradition the colourful dresses were designed by the great artist of the Renaissance time, Michelangelo Buonarroti, who got in these years the commission of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel.
