Apostolic Palace. Apostolic Palace, Vatican City: description, photo, location on the map, how to get Papal Residence

The audience halls are located on the third floor of the palace, among them the Clementine Hall, the Consistory Hall, the Large and Small throne rooms, the papal library (the Pope's office and a room for private audiences). On the fourth floor are the premises of the papal secretariat. The palace has more than 1000 rooms that are world famous for the greatest works of art they contain: the Sistine Chapel and its famous ceiling frescoes by Michelangelo (restored in 1980-1990) and Raphael's Stanzas.

Before the transfer of the capital of Italy to Rome, the Quirinal Palace served as the pope's summer residence. Another papal residence is located in the Lateran Palace, and in the town of Castel Gandolfo there is a country summer residence.

Construction history

There is no exact information about the beginning of the construction of the Vatican Palace: some attribute it to Constantine the Great, others attribute the original construction to the time of Pope Symmachus (VI century). It is only certain that during the arrival of Charlemagne to Rome for the coronation, the residence of Pope Leo III was the palace on the Vatican Hill; but then the palace was neglected and the pope's residence was moved to the Lateran Palace. Only since the return of the popes from Avignon (1377) has the Vatican become a permanent papal residence and expanded with a number of grandiose outbuildings.

Southern (oldest) part of the palace

The main entrance is located on the right wing of the colonnade of St. Petra, near the equestrian statue of Constantine the Great. The main staircase (scala Regia) with a magnificent Ionic colonnade (built under Urban VIII) leads to the Royal Hall (Sala Regia), which serves as a vestibule for the Sistine and Pauline chapels. The Sala Regia is decorated with beautiful frescoes by Vasari, Sammacini, the Zucchero brothers, Salviati and Sicchiolante.

The Pauline Chapel is remarkable for two frescoes by Michelangelo: "The Conversion of the Apostle Paul" and "The Crucifixion of St. Peter", significantly affected by the soot of wax candles. During Easter, a service is held here. On the second floor there are the famous lodges of Raphael and 4 rooms, the so-called Stanzas of Raphael, which Raphael and his students painted on behalf of Popes Julius II and Leo X (1508-20). The Hall of Constantine leads to the Sala de Chiroscuri (hall of chiaroscuro), from where they go on one side to the chapel of San Lorenzo, with frescoes by Fra Angelico, and on the other to the gallery of the Lodges. But the main route to the Lodge is from the courtyard of St. Damaz along the magnificent staircase of 118 steps, built under Pope Pius IX.

In the 19th century, in the 5 rooms of the third floor, behind Raphael's lodges, the Vatican Art Gallery was located, which contained a small number of paintings that are the best works of great masters. Then, on March 19, 1908, the Vatican Pinakothek was opened in one of the wings of the Belvedere Palace, for which a new building was built in 1932 by order of Pope Pius XI.

The Pope's own apartments and the audience hall are located around the courtyard of St. Damaz, from the side of the church of St. Peter.

Belvedere Palace

The Belvedere Palace is occupied by the Pius Clementine Museum. Two vestibules lead to the museum: a quadrangular one, with the famous Belvedere torso of Hercules, and a round one, from where a view of the panorama of the city of Rome opens. Next to the round vestibule is the hall of Meleager, where a statue of this mythical hunter is exhibited. From the circular vestibule one enters an octagonal courtyard surrounded by a portico supported by 16 granite columns. Sarcophagi, altars, fonts, bas-reliefs are placed under the portico - all of almost remarkable ancient work. World-famous statues flaunt in the quadrangular niches: Apollo Belvedere, Laocoön and his sons, Hermes Belvedere and Canova's Perseus.

From this courtyard one enters the gallery of statues, where among other works are Apollo of Saurokton and Cupid of Praxiteles, Sleeping Ariadne. From here, through the Hall of the Beasts (the so-called collection of wonderfully executed sculptural figures of animals), one enters the Hall of the Muses, octagonal, supported by 16 Carrara marble columns, with antique statues of Apollo of Massageta and the Muses found in Tivoli. The Hall of the Muses leads to the Round Hall, with a dome on 10 marble columns, with a floor made of antique mosaics found in Otricoli. In this hall there is a pool of red porphyry, one of a kind in size and beauty, statues of Antinous, Ceres, Juno, Hercules, etc. To the south of this hall is the hall of the Greek Cross, so called by its form; Here are the red porphyry sarcophagi of St. Helena and Constance.

From here one goes to the internal main staircase of the museum, built by Simoneti and decorated with 30 columns of red granite and two of black porphyry. The same staircase leads to the Egyptian Museum, founded by Pius VII, and to the 2nd floor, where the Candelabra Gallery and the Etruscan Museum, founded by Gregory XVI and occupying room 13, are located, with a rich collection of ancient Italian antiquities.

The staircase of the museum leads to the garden della Pigna. A semicircular niche is arranged in the end wall of the palace (architect Pirro Ligorio, 1560) with a bronze Roman fountain in the shape of a cone (Italian Pigna) of the 1st century, which gave the name to the whole garden.

Galleries Bramante and Braccio Nuovo

The northern end of the Bramante East Gallery and the Braccio Nuovo Gallery is occupied by the Chiaramonti Museum. Each side of the first gallery is divided into 30 compartments, furnished with a wonderful collection of statues, busts and bas-reliefs (Tiberius, Julius Caesar, Son, Silenus, etc.; busts: Cicero, Marius, Scipio Africanus, etc.). In the gallery of Braccio Nuovo there are statues of: Augustus, Claudius, Titus, Euripides, Demosthenes, Minerva and others; busts: Mark Antony, Lepidus, Adrian, Trajan, etc. From the gallery of Chiaramonte to the south, separated by one lattice, there is a museum of Inscriptions (more than 3000 monuments), founded by Pope Pius VII.

The following museums and halls are located in the Bramante Western Gallery: 1) The Museum of Secular Objects - a collection of antique utensils from various metals, bronze statuettes of idols, precious stones and carvings on ivory. 2) Museum of sacred objects - a collection of ancient church utensils found in the catacombs, etc. 3) Papyri cabinet. 4) Hall of the Aldobrandine wedding. 5) The Hall of Byzantine Artists, in which Gregory XVI placed a collection of paintings from the 13th and 14th centuries. 6) Numismatic cabinet.

The Arazzi Gallery on the second floor of the Bramante Western Gallery contains a precious collection of carpets made from Raphael's cardboards and depicting the deeds of the holy apostles.

Write a review on the article "Apostolic Palace"

Notes

An excerpt characterizing the Apostolic Palace

“Here, eat, master,” he said, again returning to his former respectful tone and unwrapping and serving Pierre several baked potatoes. - There was stew at dinner. And the potatoes are important!
Pierre had not eaten all day, and the smell of potatoes seemed to him unusually pleasant. He thanked the soldier and began to eat.
- Well, so then? - the soldier said smiling and took one of the potatoes. - And here's how you are. - He again took out a folding knife, cut the potatoes into equal two halves in his palm, sprinkled salt from a rag and brought it to Pierre.
“Potatoes are important,” he repeated. - You eat like this.
It seemed to Pierre that he had never eaten food tastier than this.
“No, it’s all right for me,” said Pierre, “but why did they shoot these unfortunates! .. The last one was about twenty years old.
“Tsk, tsk…” said the little man. “That’s a sin, that’s a sin ...” he quickly added, and, as if his words were always ready in his mouth and inadvertently flew out of him, he continued: “What is it, sir, did you stay in Moscow like that?
I didn't think they would come so soon. I accidentally stayed, - said Pierre.
- But how did they take you, falcon, from your house?
- No, I went to the fire, and then they grabbed me, they tried me for an arsonist.
“Where there is judgment, there is untruth,” put in the little man.
– How long have you been here? asked Pierre, chewing the last potato.
– I that? That Sunday I was taken from the hospital in Moscow.
Who are you, soldier?
- Soldiers of the Apsheron regiment. He died of a fever. They didn't tell us anything. There were twenty of our people. And they didn’t think, they didn’t guess.
- Well, are you bored here? Pierre asked.
- How boring, falcon. Call me Plato; Karataev’s nickname, ”he added, apparently in order to make it easier for Pierre to address him. - Nicknamed Falcon in the service. How not to be bored, falcon! Moscow, she is the mother of cities. How not to get bored looking at it. Yes, the worm is worse than cabbage, but before that you yourself disappear: that’s what the old people used to say, ”he added quickly.
- How, how did you say that? Pierre asked.
– I that? asked Karataev. “I say: not by our mind, but by God’s judgment,” he said, thinking that he was repeating what he had said. And immediately he continued: - How do you, master, have patrimonies? And do you have a house? So, a full bowl! And is there a hostess? Are the old parents still alive? he asked, and although Pierre did not see in the dark, he felt that the soldier's lips were wrinkled with a restrained smile of affection while he was asking this. He, apparently, was upset that Pierre did not have parents, especially a mother.
- A wife for advice, a mother-in-law for greetings, but there is no sweeter mother! - he said. - Well, do you have kids? he continued to ask. Pierre's negative answer again, apparently, upset him, and he hastened to add: - Well, young people, God willing, they will. If only to live in the council ...
“But now it doesn’t matter,” Pierre involuntarily said.
“Oh, you are a dear person,” Plato objected. - Never refuse the bag and the prison. He settled himself better, cleared his throat, apparently preparing himself for a long story. “So, my dear friend, I was still living at home,” he began. “Our patrimony is rich, there is a lot of land, the peasants live well, and our house, thank God. The father himself went out to mow. We lived well. Christians were real. It happened ... - And Platon Karataev told a long story about how he went to a strange grove beyond the forest and got caught by the watchman, how he was flogged, tried and handed over to the soldiers. “Well, falcon,” he said in a voice that changed from a smile, “they thought grief, but joy!” Brother would go, if not my sin. And the younger brother himself has five guys, - and I, look, have one soldier left. There was a girl, and even before the soldiery, God tidied up. I came to visit, I'll tell you. I look - they live better than before. The yard is full of stomachs, women are at home, two brothers are working. One Mikhailo, the smaller one, is at home. The father says: “To me, he says, all the children are equal: no matter what finger you bite, everything hurts. And if Plato had not been shaved then, Mikhail would have gone. He called us all - you believe - he put us in front of the image. Mikhailo, he says, come here, bow at his feet, and you, woman, bow, and bow to your grandchildren. Got it? speaks. So, my dear friend. Rock heads looking. And we judge everything: it’s not good, it’s not okay. Our happiness, my friend, is like water in a nonsense: you pull - it puffed up, and you pull it out - there is nothing. So that. And Plato sat down on his straw.
After a few moments of silence, Plato stood up.
- Well, I'm tea, do you want to sleep? - he said and quickly began to cross himself, saying:
- Lord, Jesus Christ, Saint Nicholas, Frola and Lavra, Lord Jesus Christ, Saint Nicholas! Frola and Lavra, Lord Jesus Christ - have mercy and save us! - he concluded, bowed to the ground, got up and, sighing, sat down on his straw. - That's it. Put, God, a pebble, raise a ball, - he said and lay down, pulling on his overcoat.
What prayer did you read? Pierre asked.
- Ash? - Plato said (he was already asleep). - Read what? He prayed to God. And don't you pray?
“No, and I pray,” said Pierre. - But what did you say: Frola and Lavra?
- But what about, - Plato answered quickly, - a horse festival. And you need to feel sorry for the cattle, - said Karataev. - Look, the rogue, curled up. You've warmed up, you son of a bitch," he said, feeling the dog at his feet, and, turning again, immediately fell asleep.
Outside, weeping and shouting were heard somewhere in the distance, and fire was visible through the cracks of the booth; but it was quiet and dark in the booth. Pierre did not sleep for a long time and with open eyes lay in the darkness in his place, listening to the measured snoring of Plato, who lay beside him, and felt that the previously destroyed world was now being erected in his soul with new beauty, on some new and unshakable foundations.

In the booth, which Pierre entered and in which he stayed for four weeks, there were twenty-three captured soldiers, three officers and two officials.
All of them then appeared to Pierre as if in a fog, but Platon Karataev remained forever in Pierre's soul the strongest and dearest memory and personification of everything Russian, kind and round. When the next day, at dawn, Pierre saw his neighbor, the first impression of something round was completely confirmed: the whole figure of Plato in his French overcoat belted with a rope, in a cap and bast shoes, was round, his head was completely round, back, chest, shoulders, even the arms that he wore, as if always about to embrace something, were round; a pleasant smile and large brown gentle eyes were round.
Platon Karataev must have been over fifty years old, judging by his stories about the campaigns in which he participated as a longtime soldier. He himself did not know and could not in any way determine how old he was; but his teeth, bright white and strong, which kept rolling out in their two semicircles when he laughed (as he often did), were all good and whole; no one gray hair was not in his beard and hair, and his whole body had the appearance of flexibility and especially hardness and endurance.
His face, despite the small round wrinkles, had an expression of innocence and youth; his voice was pleasant and melodious. But the main feature of his speech was immediacy and argumentativeness. He apparently never thought about what he said and what he would say; and from this there was a special irresistible persuasiveness in the speed and fidelity of his intonations.
His physical strength and agility were such during the first time of captivity that he did not seem to understand what fatigue and illness were. Every day in the morning and in the evening, lying down, he said: “Lord, put it down with a pebble, raise it up with a ball”; in the morning, getting up, always shrugging his shoulders in the same way, he would say: "Lie down - curled up, get up - shake yourself." And indeed, as soon as he lay down to immediately fall asleep like a stone, and as soon as he shook himself, in order to immediately, without a second of delay, take up some business, the children, having risen, take up toys. He knew how to do everything, not very well, but not badly either. He baked, steamed, sewed, planed, made boots. He was always busy and only at night allowed himself to talk, which he loved, and songs. He sang songs, not like songwriters sing, knowing that they are being listened to, but he sang like birds sing, obviously because it was just as necessary for him to make these sounds, as it is necessary to stretch or disperse; and these sounds were always subtle, tender, almost feminine, mournful, and his face was very serious at the same time.
Having been captured and overgrown with a beard, he, apparently, threw away everything that was put on him, alien, soldierly, and involuntarily returned to the former, peasant, people's warehouse.
“A soldier on leave is a shirt made of trousers,” he used to say. He reluctantly spoke about his time as a soldier, although he did not complain, and often repeated that he had never been beaten during his entire service. When he told, he mainly told from his old and, apparently, dear memories of the "Christian", as he pronounced, peasant life. The proverbs that filled his speech were not those, for the most part, indecent and glib sayings that the soldiers say, but these were those folk sayings that seem so insignificant, taken separately, and which suddenly take on the meaning of deep wisdom when they are said by the way.
Often he said the exact opposite of what he had said before, but both were true. He loved to talk and spoke well, embellishing his speech with endearing and proverbs, which, it seemed to Pierre, he himself invented; but the main charm of his stories was that in his speech the simplest events, sometimes the very ones that, without noticing them, Pierre saw, took on the character of solemn decorum. He liked to listen to fairy tales that one soldier told in the evenings (all the same), but most of all he liked to listen to stories about real life. He smiled joyfully as he listened to such stories, inserting words and asking questions that tended to make clear to himself the beauty of what was being told to him. Attachments, friendship, love, as Pierre understood them, Karataev did not have any; but he loved and lived lovingly with everything that life brought him, and especially with a person - not with some famous person, but with those people who were before his eyes. He loved his mutt, loved his comrades, the French, loved Pierre, who was his neighbor; but Pierre felt that Karataev, in spite of all his affectionate tenderness for him (with which he involuntarily paid tribute to Pierre's spiritual life), would not have been upset for a minute by parting from him. And Pierre began to experience the same feeling for Karataev.

Apostolic Palace - official residence Pope in Vatican. But most often you can hear other variants of the name: the Papal Palace or the Vatican Palace. The Apostolic Palace is not just a papal apartment, but a whole historical and museum complex, which can surely be called one of the grandiose architectural structures representing undeniable artistic and historical value.

Architectural style: Renaissance architecture;
Architect: Donato Bramante;
Date of foundation: April 30, 1589.

Complex

The Vatican Palace complex includes buildings such as the Papal Apartments, government offices of the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican Library, the Vatican Museum and several chapels. There are more than a thousand rooms in the palace, among them the Consistory Hall, the Clementine Hall, the Large and Small Throne Rooms, the Pope's office and an office for private audiences, which are located on the third floor. And on the fourth floor are the premises of the papal secretariat.

A bit of history

Namely, a little, because it is not known for certain when the construction of the Vatican Palace began. Some attribute this date to the times of Constantine the Great, the beginning of the 4th century, others attribute the first building to the times of Pope Symmachus, the 6th century. Only one thing is known for certain, that during the arrival of Charlemagne for the coronation, the palace on the Vatican Hill served as the papal residence. It was the end of the 8th and beginning of the 9th centuries. But later the palace was launched. And only in 1377 the Vatican becomes the permanent residence of the pope, and this period begins with the construction of a number of grandiose buildings.

The Vatican Palace is a whole composition of architectural collections of palaces, halls, galleries and chapels, which belong to different times of construction, and in style belong to different eras. The Vatican Palace is a treasury of architecture, painting and sculpture, the main attraction of the Vatican. In the palace, you can count more than 20 courtyards, 12 thousand different rooms, as well as more than 200 stairs.

If you look at the palace from above, then its appearance resembles the shape of an irregular quadrangle, which stretches in an oblique direction from south to north from St. Peter's Church. On the eastern and western parts there are galleries that connect the Vatican and Belvedere palaces, and between them there are transverse galleries that divided the entire space into three courtyards. The oldest part of the palace is the southern part, the main entrance to which is located to the right of the colonnade of St. Peter, not far from the equestrian statue of Constantine the Great. The main staircase leads to the Royal Hall, through which you will enter the famous Sistine Chapel.

Services for tourists that will save or get more for the same money:

Insurance: the journey begins with the choice of a profitable insurance company, allows you to choose the best option according to your requirements;
Flight: Aviasales is looking for the best tickets, you can also find promotions and sales of airlines in Aviadiscounter;
Trains: reliable service for finding railway tickets ZHDBILET.COM ;
Accommodation: first we select a hotel through (they have the largest base), and then we look at which site it is cheaper to book it through RoomGuru;
Movements: you can order an inexpensive transfer to and from the airport, you can also rent a car at (Economybookings). In some countries, renting a car can be cheaper than public transport(eg, in Portugal);
Entertainment: excursions from local Russian-speaking guides around the world book on

41.903611 , 12.456389

Apostolic Palace(also called Vatican Palace or papal palace listen)) is the official residence of the Pope, located in the Vatican. Official name - Palace of Sixtus V(English) Palace of Sixtus V ).

The building complex of the Apostolic Palace includes the Pontifical Apartments, government offices of the Roman Catholic Church, several chapels, the Vatican Museums, and the Vatican Library. The audience halls are located on the 3rd floor of the palace, among them the Clementine Hall, the Consistory Hall, the Large and Small throne rooms, the papal library (the Pope's office and a room for private audiences). On the fourth floor are the premises of the papal secretariat. The palace has more than 1000 rooms that are world famous due to the greatest works of art they contain: the Sistine Chapel and its famous ceiling frescoes by Michelangelo (restored in - years) and Raphael's Stanzas.

Construction history

Plan of the northern part of the Apostolic Palace (Rodolfo Lanciani, 1893-1901).

Plan of the southern part of the Apostolic Palace (Rodolfo Lanciani, 1893-1901).

Under Sixtus IV (1471), the famous Sistine Chapel was built. Under Innocent VIII (1490), the Belvedere Palace was erected near the Vatican, which was connected to the Vatican by two magnificent galleries by the architect Bramante, on behalf of Pope Julius II (1503). Bramante were also begun surrounding the courtyard of St. Damaz lodges, which were later completed and painted by Raphael and his students. Pope Paul III built the Pauline Chapel and next to it the so-called. Royal Hall (Sala regia). Under Pius IV and Gregory XIII, the northern and eastern wings of the lodges appeared, and Sixtus V built a transverse gallery that houses the Vatican Library. Clement XIV and Pius VI. so-called. Pius Clementine Museum, and Pius VII - Chiaramonti Museum and held a second transverse gallery, the so-called. Braccio Nuovo (1817-22). Gregory XVI founded the Etruscan and Egyptian museums, and finally, Pope Pius IX covered the Raphael Lodge with a glass roof and built the fourth wall of the courtyard of St. Damaza.

Description of the palace

The Vatican Palace is not a homogeneous architectural whole; it is a collection of palaces, halls, galleries, chapels, belonging to different eras in style and time of construction and containing an unparalleled collection of treasures of architecture, painting and sculpture. The palace has up to 20 courtyards, more than 200 staircases and 12,000 rooms. In appearance, this is an irregular quadrangle, stretching from south to north in an oblique direction from the church of St. Peter. The longitudinal - east and west - facades are formed by two galleries connecting the old Vatican with the Belvedere. The space between these galleries is divided by two transverse galleries: the Library and Braccio Nuovo into 3 courtyards. The first, closest to the Vatican, is called the Belvedere. In the 3rd courtyard there is a Giardino della Pigna garden. Another large garden (Girardino Pontifico) is located to the west of the palace, on a hillside, where the villa of Pope Pius IV (villa Pia), built by Pirro Ligorio, is located.

Southern (oldest) part of the palace

The Pauline Chapel is remarkable for two frescoes by Michelangelo: "The Conversion of the Apostle Paul" and "The Crucifixion of St. Peter", significantly affected by the soot of wax candles. During Easter, a service is held here. On the second floor there are the famous lodges of Raphael and 4 rooms, the so-called Stanzas of Raphael, which Raphael and his students painted on behalf of Popes Julius II and Leo X (1508-20). The Constantine Hall leads to the Sala de Chiroscuri (hall of chiaroscuro), from where they go on one side to the San Lorenzo chapel, with frescoes by Fra Angelico, and on the other to the gallery of the Lodges. But the main route to the Lodge is from the courtyard of St. Damaz along the magnificent staircase of 118 steps, built under Pope Pius IX.

The Pope's own apartments and the audience hall are located around the courtyard of St. Damaz, from the side of the church of St. Peter.

Belvedere Palace

Niche of the Belvedere and a bronze Roman fountain in the form of a cone.

Garden della Pigna (Cones)

The staircase of the museum leads to the garden della Pigna. In the end wall of the palace there is a semicircular niche (architect Pirro Ligorio, 1560) with a bronze Roman fountain in the shape of a cone (Italian Pigna) of the 1st century, which gave the name to the whole garden.

Galleries Bramante and Braccio Nuovo

The northern end of the Bramante East Gallery and the Braccio Nuovo Gallery are occupied by the Chiaramonti Museum. Each side of the first gallery is divided into 30 compartments, furnished with a wonderful collection of statues, busts and bas-reliefs (Tiberius, Julius Caesar, Son, Silenus, etc.; busts: Cicero, Marius, Scipio Africanus, etc.). In the gallery of Braccio Nuovo there are statues of: Augustus, Claudius, Titus, Euripides, Demosthenes, Minerva and others; busts: Mark Antony, Lepidus, Adrian, Trajan, etc. From the gallery of Chiaramonte to the south, separated by one lattice, there is a museum of Inscriptions (more than 3000 monuments), founded by Pope Pius VII.

The Arazzi Gallery on the 2nd floor of the Bramante Western Gallery contains a precious collection of carpets made after Raphael's cardboards and depicting the deeds of the holy apostles.

Notes

Links

A couple of days ago it became known that the residence of the Pope in small town Castel Gondolfo, which is located on the shores of a picturesque lake near Rome, will open its doors to visitors.

Shortly after the feast of the Epiphany, the new director of the residence in Castel Gandolfo, Osavaldo Gianoli, took over his official duties, replacing his predecessor Saverio Petrillo. Before Gianoli had time to get used to the new place, his first project came to his table: he expressed the wish that his summer residence, in which he rarely visits, become open to residents and guests of the city.

By the way, there is something to see in the residence of the pontiff. It belongs to the end of the 16th century. In the Middle Ages, the entire town of Castel Gandolfo was the property of the counts di Tuscolo (di Tuscolo), and then was in the possession of the Gandolfo family.

Later, the city again changed its owner, who could not pay the debts that had piled on him. At the insistence of Pope Clement VII, the picturesque place passed by right into the possession of the Holy See. However, the papal palace was built here only a few centuries later. Roman architect Carlo Maderna received an order to create a project for the residence of the Pope only in 1698. The Palace of the Pontiffs was built on the same site where the castle of the Tuscolo and Gandolfo families had previously been located.

Dear reader, to find an answer to any question about holidays in Italy, use. I answer all questions in the comments under the relevant articles at least once a day. Your guide in Italy Artur Yakutsevich.

Pope Urban VII, during which the papal palace was being built, was very fond of this secluded town, surrounded by the Albanian mountains (Colli Albani) and the Albanian lake (Lago Albano).

Being a true connoisseur of architecture, sculpture and floristry, the pontiff had a hand in decorating not only the interior of the palace, but also the surrounding areas. Later, Villa Barberini was added to the papal residence. From 1870 to 1929, the palace, which belongs to the Holy See, was not particularly popular with the heads of the Catholic Church, but now the pontiffs prefer to spend almost the entire summer here, trying to hide from the smog and stuffiness that inevitably overtakes them in the Vatican.

Where is

The residence of the Pope stands on the western slope of the Albanian Lake, from where a view of amazing beauty opens up that cannot leave anyone indifferent.

Thus, the charm of these places enveloped the Russian artist Alexander Ivanov, who painted the marvelous painting “A Tree Above the Water in Castel Gandolfo”.

The town itself is saturated with numerous legends and beliefs. So, the locals will be happy to reveal to you exactly what the founders of Rome, the brothers Romulus and Remus, were born here. This story evokes a genuine sense of pride among the townspeople, who claim that the Latin land came from here.

You will not regret if you decide to spend one day visiting all the beauties of this amazing city. It's worth going here not only for the papal summer palace. Castel Gandolfo has some of the most beautiful churches, villas and other residences. It will not be difficult to get to the town.Castles of Italy on a larger map

If you are traveling by car, you need to go to the SS 7 Appia Nuova and pass the crossing number 23. Numerous road signs will not let you get lost. We sincerely recommend using the most reliable and cheapest search service. For example, you can rent a car for a day for only 18-30 euros.
You can also get to Castel Gandolfo by bus from Rome by purchasing tickets for a direct route from the Anagnina bus station. The ticket costs 2.6 euros.
And finally, if you are a fan trains, you should get to (Termini), take the train towards Albano Laziale and get off at Castel Gandolf station. A train ticket will cost you up to 3 euros.

Have a good trip and pleasant impressions!

↘️🇮🇹 USEFUL ARTICLES AND SITES 🇮🇹↙️ SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS

The most important and ancient building Vatican - Apostolic Palace, otherwise called the Papal Palace or the Vatican Palace. Since the fourteenth century, the official residence of the Pope in the Vatican has been located here. Officially it is called the Palace of Sixtus V.

The Vatican Palace is not one building and is not made in one style. The complex of buildings of the Apostolic Palace includes government offices of the Roman Catholic Church, the Papal apartments, the Vatican library, Vatican museums, and some chapels. On the third floor of the Papal Palace there are halls for official meetings, including the Consistory Hall, the Pope's study, the Clementine Hall, the Large and Small Throne Rooms, the papal library, rooms for private audiences. The premises of the papal secretariat are located on the fourth floor.

More than a thousand rooms of the palace have gained worldwide fame due to the placement of the greatest works of art in them. This Raphael's Stanzas, Sistine Chapel with the famous ceiling frescoes by Michelangelo (restored in 1980/90).

Before the capital of Italy was transferred to Rome in 1871, the pope's summer residence was located in the Quirinal Palace. Another papal residence was the Lateran Palace, a summer country residence is located in the town of Castel Gandolfo.

Story

No one has exact information about when the construction of the Vatican Palace began. Some historians attribute it to Constantine the Great, while others attribute the original construction to the period of Pope Symmachus (sixth century). It is certain that the palace on the Vatican Hill served as the residence of Pope Leo III during the visit of Charlemagne to Rome for the coronation. Over time, the palace fell into disrepair, and the residence of the pope was transferred to the Lutheran Palace. From the moment when the popes returned from Avignon (1377), the Vatican has been transformed into a permanent papal residence, a whole series of grandiose buildings contributing to its expansion.

The famous Sistine Chapel was created under Sixtus IV (1471). Near the Vatican, under Innocent VIII, the Belvedere Palace was erected in 1490. The architect Donato Bramante, on behalf of Pope Julius II (1503), connected it with the Vatican with two magnificent galleries. Bramante began to create lodges surrounding the court of St. Damase. Later they were finished and painted by Raphael with his students. The Pauline Chapel and the Royal Hall next to it were built by Pope Paul III.

During the reigns of Pius IV and Gregory XIII, the eastern and northern wings of the lodges arose. The transverse gallery, which houses the Vatican Apostolic Library, was built by Sixtus V. The Pius Clementine Museum was founded by Clement XIV and Pius VI. The Chiaramonti Museum was founded by Pius VII, who also built the Braccio Nuovo, the second transverse gallery (1817-1822). The Egyptian and Etruscan Museums were founded by Pope Gregory XVI. The fourth wall of the courtyard of St. Damases was built during the reign of Pope Pius IX, at the same time covered with a glass roof of the Raphael Lodge.

Exterior of the palace

The Papal Palace is not a homogeneous architectural entity; it is a complex of palaces, chapels, halls, galleries, which in time and style belong to different eras and contain an inimitable collection of treasures of painting, sculpture, and architecture. unique architectural ensemble includes up to twenty courtyards, twelve thousand rooms, two hundred staircases. The exterior is an irregular quadrilateral, stretching in an oblique direction from south to north from St. Peter's Church. Two galleries connecting the old Vatican and the Belvedere form the eastern and western longitudinal facades.

Two transverse galleries: the Library and Braccio Nuovo, the free space between the galleries is divided into three courtyards. Near the Vatican, the courtyard is called the Belvedere. On the hillside, to the west of the palace, where the villa of Pope Pius IV, created by Pirro Ligorio, is located, is the second large garden of the Girardino Pontifico. The Giardino della Pigna garden is located in the third courtyard.

South side of the palace

From the right wing of the colonnade of St. Peter, near the equestrian statue of Constantine the Great, there is the main entrance. Decorated with a magnificent Ionic colonnade, the central staircase leads to the Sala Regia - the Royal Hall, which serves as the vestibule for the Pauline and Sistine chapels. The royal hall is decorated with beautiful frescoes by Vasari, Sicchiolante, the Zucchero brothers, Sammacini, Salviati.

The Pauline Chapel is distinguished by the presence of two frescoes by Michelangelo in it: “The Crucifixion of St. Peter” and “Conversion of the Apostle Paul”, which were significantly affected by the soot of wax candles. On the bright days of Easter, divine services are performed here. On the second floor there are the well-known lodges of Raphael, four halls - the Stanzas of Raphael, painted on behalf of Julius II, Leo X by Raphael and his students.

The Hall of Constantine leads to the hall of chiaroscuro - Sala de Chiroscuri, from where there is an exit on one side to the gallery of Lodges, on the other - to the San Lorenzo chapel, decorated with frescoes by Fra Angelico. You can also get to the Lodges from the courtyard of St. Damase along the main path - a magnificent staircase, consisting of 118 degrees, erected under Pope Pius IX.

In the nineteenth century, the Vatican Art Gallery was located in five rooms on the third floor, consisting of a small number of paintings - selected works of great masters. In the spring of 1908, the Vatican Pinakothek began to work in a wing of the Belvedere Palace. In 1932, by order of Pope Pius XI, a new special building was built for the Pinakothek.

From the side of St. Peter's, around the courtyard of St. Damase, there are the personal apartments of the pope and the audience hall.

Belvedere Palace

The Pius Clementine Museum is located in the Belvedere Palace, where two vestibules lead: a round one with a unique view of the panorama of the city of Rome and a quadrangular one, in which the well-known Belvedere torso of Hercules is located.

Near the round vestibule is the hall of Meleager, in which there is a statue of this Aetolian hero - the mythical hunter of the Calydonian boar. From the round vestibule there are exits to the octagonal courtyard, which is surrounded by a portico with sixteen granite columns. The world-famous statues of Apollo Belvedere, Laocoon and his sons, Perseus Antonio Canova, Hermes Belvedere are installed in the quadrangular niches.

The path from the inner courtyard leads to the Gallery of Statues, in which, among other works, the Sleeping Ariadne, Apollo of Saurocton, Cupid of Praxiteles are placed. Further through the Hall of the Animals (a collection of well-made sculptural figures of animals) follow to the Hall of the Muses. It is an octagonal room, supported by sixteen Carrara marble columns, in which antique statues of Apollo of Massageta and the Muses discovered in Tivoli are installed.

From the Hall of the Muses you can get to the Round Hall on ten marble columns with a dome and a floor lined with antique mosaics found in Otrykol. There are statues of Ceres, Antinous, Hercules, Juno, etc., made of red porphyry, the pool is unique in its kind in beauty and size. South of this hall is the Hall of the Greek Cross, named after its shape. It houses the sarcophagi of Saints Helena and Constance, made of dark red porphyry.

From here they get to the main internal staircase of the museum, created by Simoneti. It is decorated with thirty columns of red granite and two of black porphyry. This staircase will lead to the Egyptian Museum founded by Pius VII; then on the second floor to the Candelabra Gallery, Etruscan Museum. Housed in thirteen halls, the museum was founded by Gregory XVI. It houses the richest collection of ancient Italian treasures.

Further, the staircase leads to the beautiful garden della Pigna. A semicircular niche (1560, architect Pirro Ligorio) is equipped at the end of the wall, in which a bronze Roman fountain is installed, shaped like a cone of the 1st century BC. and gave the garden its name.

Galleries Bramante, Arazzi, Braccio Nuovo

The Chiaramonti Museum occupies the Braccio Nuovo Gallery and the northern side of the Bramante East Gallery. All sides of the Bramante Gallery are divided into thirty sections, furnished with an ancient collection of statues, bas-reliefs, busts (Julius Caesar, Tiberius, Silenus, Son, etc., busts: Scipio Africanus, Cicero, Mary, etc.).

The Braccio Nuovo Gallery contains statues of Titus, Augustus, Euripides, Claudius, Minerva, Demosthenes and others, busts of Lepidus, Mark Antony, Trajan, Hadrian and others. Only one lattice separates the Chiaramonte Gallery and the Museum of Inscriptions founded by Pope Pius VII, having more than three thousand monuments.

The Bramante West Gallery includes the following rooms and museums. Numismatic office. Hall of the Aldobrandino wedding. The office of papyri. The Museum of Sacred Objects houses a collection of ancient church utensils found in the catacombs, etc. The Museum of Secular Objects includes a collection of antique utensils made of various metals; precious stones; bronze statuettes of idols; ivory carvings. Hall of Byzantine Artists, where Pope Gregory XVI placed a collection of paintings from the 13th and 14th centuries.

In the west gallery of Bramante (second floor), the Arazzi gallery contains a precious collection of carpets, made after Raphael's cardboards, depicting the deeds of the holy apostles.

The Vatican is an amazing state. Not a single tourist remains indifferent after visiting the Apostolic Palace or a visit to the papal cloister. Someone admires the Sistine Chapel, someone spends time in the austere gardens of the Vatican, someone admires and admires the ingenious frescoes of the masters of the Middle Ages. But every guest here will meet and see something that will leave the best impressions in his memory forever.

Apostolic Palace. Apostolic Palace, Vatican City: description, photo, location on the map, how to get Papal Residence

Construction history

Southern (oldest) part of the palace

Belvedere Palace

Galleries Bramante and Braccio Nuovo

see also

Write a review on the article "Apostolic Palace"

Notes

Links

An excerpt characterizing the Apostolic Palace

Complex

A bit of history

Construction history

Description of the palace

Southern (oldest) part of the palace

Belvedere Palace

Galleries Bramante and Braccio Nuovo

see also

Notes

Links

Where is

Construction history

Southern (oldest) part of the palace

Belvedere Palace

Galleries Bramante and Braccio Nuovo

see also

Write a review on the article "Apostolic Palace"

Notes

Links

An excerpt characterizing the Apostolic Palace

Complex

A bit of history

Construction history

Description of the palace

Southern (oldest) part of the palace

Belvedere Palace

Galleries Bramante and Braccio Nuovo

see also

Notes

Links

Where is

Read also