TheApostolic Palace[a] is theofficial residence of thePope, the head of theCatholic Church, located inVatican City. It is also known as thePapal Palace, thePalace of the Vatican and theVatican Palace. The Vatican itself refers to the building as thePalace of Sixtus V, in honor ofPope Sixtus V, who built most of the present form of the palace.[2]
The Portone di Bronzo at the Vatican Apostolic Palace entrance
The building contains thepapal apartments, various offices of the Catholic Church and theHoly See, private and public chapels, theVatican Museums, and theVatican Library, including theSistine Chapel,Raphael Rooms, and theBorgia Apartments. Tourists can see this part of the palace, but other parts, such as theSala Regia (Regal Room) andCappella Paolina, had long been closed to tourists, though the Sala Regia allowed occasional tourism by 2019. TheScala Regia (Regal Staircase) can be viewed from one end and used to enter the Sala Regia.[3] The Cappella Paolina remains closed to tourists.
Upon returning to Rome in 1377 after the interlude of theAvignon Papacy, which saw Rome subject to civil unrest and the abandonment of several Christian monuments, the popes chose to reside first atBasilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere and then atBasilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. The Vatican Palace had fallen into disrepair from lack of upkeep, and the Lateran Palace underwent two destructive fires, in 1307 and 1361, which resulted in irreparable harm.[5] In 1447,Pope Nicholas V razed the ancient fortified palace of Eugene III to erect a new building, the current Apostolic Palace.[6]
In the 15th century, the palace was placed under the authority of aprefect. This position of apostolic prefecture lasted from the 15th century until the 1800s, when thePapal States fell into economic difficulties. In 1884, when this post was reviewed in light of saving money,Pope Leo XIII created a committee to administer the palace.[7]
The major additions and decorations of the palace are the work of the following popes for 150 years. Construction of the current version of the palace began on 30 April 1589[1] underPope Sixtus V and its various intrinsic parts were completed by later successors,Pope Urban VII,Pope Innocent XI andPope Clement VIII. In the 20th century,Pope Pius XI built a monumental art gallery andmuseum entrance.
Construction of the Papal Palace (also known as the Apostolic Palace or Vatican Palace) at the Vatican in Vatican City, took place mainly between 1471 and 1605. Covering 162,000 square metres (1,743,753 square feet), it contains the papal apartments, offices of the Roman Catholic Church and Holy See, chapels, Vatican Library, museums and art galleries.[8]
A model of the palace in theVatican Museums. The buildings are arranged around a central courtyard.
The Apostolic Palace is run by thePrefecture of the Pontifical Household. Thepalace is more accurately a series of self-contained buildings within the well-recognized outer structure which is arranged around the Courtyard of Sixtus V (Cortile di Sisto V). It is located northeast ofSt Peter's Basilica and adjacent to the Bastion of Nicholas V and Palace of Gregory XIII.
The Apostolic Palace houses both residential and support offices of various functions as well as administrative offices not focused on the life and functions of the Pope himself.
One of the primary functions of the chapel is as a venue for the election of each successive Pope in aconclave of theCollege of Cardinals. In this closed-door election, the cardinals choose a successor to the apostle and traditional first Pope,Peter, who is (according to tradition) buried in the crypts of nearby St. Peter's Basilica.
This suite of rooms is famous for its frescos by a large team of artists working underRaphael. They were originally intended as a suite of apartments forPope Julius II. He commissioned Raphael, then a relatively young artist fromUrbino, and his studio in 1508 or 1509 to redecorate the existing interiors of the rooms entirely. It was possibly Julius' intent to outshine the apartments of his predecessor (and rival)Pope Alexander VI, as theStanze are directly above Alexander's Borgia Apartments. They are on the second floor, overlooking the south side of theBelvedere Courtyard.
From east to west, as a visitor would have entered the apartment, but reversing the sequence in which theStanze were frescoed, and also the route of the modern visitor, the rooms are theSala di Constantino ("Hall of Constantine"), theStanza di Eliodoro ("Room of Heliodorus"), theStanza della Segnatura (the earliest and the most admired) ("Room of the Signature") and theStanza dell'Incendio del Borgo ("The Room of theFire in the Borgo").
After the death of Julius in 1513, with two rooms frescoed,Pope Leo X continued the program. Following Raphael's death in 1520, his assistantsGianfrancesco Penni,Giulio Romano andRaffaellino del Colle finished the project with the frescoes in theSala di Costantino.
The Borgia Apartments is a suite of rooms in the palace adapted for personal use byPope Alexander VI (Rodrigo de Borja). He commissioned the Italian painterPinturicchio to lavishly decorate the apartments with frescoes.
The paintings and frescoes, which were executed between 1492 and 1494, drew on a complex iconographic program that used themes from medieval encyclopedias, adding aneschatological layer of meaning and celebrating the supposedly divine origins of theBorgias.[9]
The Clementine Hall was established in the 16th century byPope Clement VIII in honor ofPope Clement I, the third pope. Like other chapels and apartments in the palace, the hall is notable for its large collection offrescos and other art.
Theloggias are corridors designed byDonato Bramante and decorated byRaphael with frescoes, which depict 52 biblical events divided into bays in groups of four. They served as inspiration to Italian architectGiacomo Quarenghi while working on the Raphael loggias in theHermitage Museum.
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