View across St. Peter's Square to the Apostolic Palace

The Apostolic Palace , also called the Papal Palace or the Palace of the Vatican, is the official residence of the Pope in the Vatican City. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 258 KB) photo by Radomil 28. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 258 KB) photo by Radomil 28. ... Berninis piazza was extended by the Via della Conciliazione, Mussolinis grand avenue of approach. ... The pope is the Catholic Patriarch and Bishop of Rome, and leader of the Catholic Church. ...

The palace is a complex of buildings, comprising the Papal Apartment, the Roman Catholic church's government offices, a handful of chapels, the Vatican Museum and the Vatican library. In all there are over 1,000 rooms with the most famous including the Sistine Chapel and its renowned ceiling frescoes painted by Michelangelo (restored between 1980-1990) and Raphael's Rooms. The Papal Apartment is a collection of several rooms located on the top floor of the Apostolic Palace which have served as the private residence of the pope since the 1870 unification of Italy. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Categories: Stub | Vatican City ... The Vatican Library (Latin: Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana) is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. ... The Sistine Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sistina) is a chapel in the Palace of the Vatican, the official residence of the Roman Catholic Pope in the Vatican City. ... A XIV Century fresco featuring Saint Sebastian Note: Fresco is the NATO reporting name of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17. ... Michelangelo (full name Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni) (March 6, 1475 - February 18, 1564) was a Renaissance sculptor, architect, painter, and poet. ... Raphaels Rooms, located in the Palace of the Vatican, are papal apartments with frescoes painted by Italian artist Raphael. ...

The other papal residences are at the Lateran Palace and the Castel Gandolfo outside Rome. From the beginning of the 4th Century, when it was given to the Pope by Constantine, the Palace of the Lateran on Piazza San Giovanni in south-east Rome was the principal residence of the Popes, and continued so for about a thousand years. ... Castel Gandolfo. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000...

Before 1871, the Quirinal Palace was the Pope's official residence. After the final overthrow of the Papal States in 1870, the King of Italy confiscated that palace in 1871, making it the king's official residence; after the abolition of the Italian monarchy in 1946, it became the president's residence. The Quirinal Palace (known in Italian as the Quirinale) is the official residence of the President of the Italian Republic. ... The Papal States (Gli Stati della Chiesa or Stati Pontificii, States of the Church) was one of the major historical states of Italy before the boot-shaped peninsula was unified under the Piedmontese crown of Savoy (later a republic). ... King of Italy is a title adopted by many rulers after the fall of the Roman Empire. ...

See also

• Clementine Hall
• Domus Sanctae Marthae
• Papal Gentlemen
• Papal Apartment
• Sistine Chapel
• Raphael Rooms

Papal rituals, symbols & ceremonial

Apostolic Palace | Papal ceremonial | Coat of Arms of popes | Conclave | Coronation | Holy See | Inauguration | Papal Oath | Papal Ring | Papal Fanon | Sedia Gestoria | Sistine Chapel | Basilica of St. John Lateran | Pallium | St. Peter's Basilica | St. Peter's Square | Papal Tiara | Vatican City The Clementine Hall is used as a reception room and hosts formal ceremonies by the pope. ... Domus Sanctæ Marthæ was built by Pope John Paul II as a residence for papal conclave participants. ... Borne on the shoulders of the Papal Gentlemen, the coffin of Pope John Paul II is taken from the altar for the Rite of Interment. ... The Papal Apartment is a collection of several rooms located on the top floor of the Apostolic Palace which have served as the private residence of the pope since the 1870 unification of Italy. ... The Sistine Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sistina) is a chapel in the Palace of the Vatican, the official residence of the Roman Catholic Pope in the Vatican City. ... The Raphael Rooms (also called the Raphael Stanze or, in Italian, Stanze di Raffaello) in the Palace of the Vatican are papal apartments with frescoes painted by the Italian artist Raphael and his workshop. ... Vatican coat of arms This image depicts a seal, an emblem, a coat of arms or a crest. ... Every pope of the Roman Catholic Church has his own personal coat of arms that serves as a symbol of his papacy. ... The Sistine Chapel is the location of the conclave. ... Pope Pius XII, in coronation robes and wearing the 1877 Papal Tiara, is carried through St. ... Pope Paul VI (1963-1978) is crowned at the last papal coronation to date, in 1963. ... The Papal Oath, also known as the oath against modernism, was an oath traditionally sworn by the popes of the Catholic Church during their Papal Coronation. ... The Ring of the Fisherman or Pescatorio is an official part of the regalia worn by the pope, described by the Roman Catholic Church (of which he is the head) as the successor of Saint Peter, a fisherman by trade. ... Pope John Paul II wearing the fanon on his shoulders. ... Pope John Paul I being carried on the Sedia Gestatoria The sedia gestatoria is the portable throne on which Popes are sometimes carried. ... The Sistine Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sistina) is a chapel in the Palace of the Vatican, the official residence of the Roman Catholic Pope in the Vatican City. ... The late Baroque façade of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano was completed by Alessandro Galilei in 1735 after winning a competition for the design. ... A Pallium The Pallium or Pall (derived, so far as the name is concerned, from the Roman pallium or palla, a woollen cloak) is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Roman Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the Pope, but for many centuries past bestowed by him on metropolitans and primates as... The Basilica of Saint Peter from Castel SantAngelo. ... Saint Peters Square and Basilica, 1909. ... The Papal Tiara, also known as the Triple Tiara, in Latin as the Triregnum, or in Italian as the Triregno, is the three-tiered jewelled papal crown of Byzantine and Persian origin that is the symbol of the papacy. ...