• Beefing up security: Blacksmiths forge new suit of armor for bulkier Vatican guards

    Mathias Kniepeiss / Getty Images

    A new suit of armor being made for the Vatican Swiss Guard is seen on Jan. 21, 2013 at the Schmiede Schmidberger workshop in Molln, Austria.

    Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters, file

    Swiss Guards stand before Pope Benedict XVI makes an address from a balcony in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City on Dec. 25, 2012.

    The Vatican has contracted a family of blacksmiths in an Austrian village to manufacture 80 new sets of armor in a project that will take seven years to complete.

    Most of the existing armor worn by the Vatican's Swiss Guard dates back at least 100 years when people were generally smaller than they are today, so the existing armor does not always fit today's bulkier guards.

    The firm of blacksmiths, Schmiede Schmidberger, is a family-run operation that has been in existence since the year 1350.

    -- Getty Images

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    Mathias Kniepeiss / Getty Images

    Blacksmith Georg Schmidberger crafts a piece of metal that will become part of a suit of armor.

    Mathias Kniepeiss / Getty Images

    The design for a new suit of armor.

    Mathias Kniepeiss / Getty Images

    Tools in the Schmiede Schmidberger workshop.

    Mathias Kniepeiss / Getty Images

    An exterior view of the workshop.

    Mathias Kniepeiss / Getty Images

    Johann Schmidberger Senior works on the Swiss Guard armor.

    Mathias Kniepeiss / Getty Images

    Schmiede Schmidberger is a family-run operation that has been in existence since the year 1350.

     

  • Fifth generation blacksmith brothers forge Swiss Guard harnesses

    Lisi Niesner / Reuters

    Blacksmith Georg Schmidberger works on a harness for the Vatican Swiss Guard at his workshop in Molln, Upper Austria on June 12.

    Lisi Niesner / Reuters

    Blacksmith Johann Schmidberger works on a harness for the Vatican Swiss Guard.

    Lisi Niesner / Reuters

    Blacksmith Georg Schmidberger works on a harness for the Vatican Swiss Guard.

    Lisi Niesner / Reuters

    Blacksmith brothers Johann and Georg Schmidberger work on a harness for the Vatican Swiss Guard at their workshop in Molln, Upper Austria on June 12.

    By Jon Sweeney, NBC News

    Blacksmith brothers Johann and Georg Schmidberger produce made-to-order handmade harnesses for the Vatican Swiss Guard.

    Each piece takes 120 hours of handiwork and they hardly differ from the 500-year-old originals. The brothers carry on the tradition of the blacksmith trade in the fifth generation of their family.

    Lisi Niesner / Reuters

    Hammers are pictured at a workshop in Molln, Upper Austria where handmade harnesses for the Vatican Swiss Guard are produced.

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  • Russian woman is lone female blacksmith in her region of Siberia

    Ilya Naymushin / Reuters

    Blacksmith Dora Kolchina works in her shop in the Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk on Monday. Dora, 29, is the only female blacksmith in the region.

    Ilya Naymushin / Reuters

    Blacksmith Dora Kolchina works in her shop.

    Ilya Naymushin / Reuters

    Blacksmith Dora Kolchina works in her shop.

    Ilya Naymushin / Reuters

    Blacksmith Dora Kolchina primps herself while working in her shop.

    See more images of Siberia in PhotoBlog.