History. tyrdom of many early Christians, and
here, according to tradition, St. Peter himself suffered crucifixion; to this is due the selection of the Vatican as the residence of the successors of St. Peter. The earliest traces of the Vatican palace thus far known were comprised in an episcopia erected by Symmachus (498-514), and successive pontiffs added to the structures until Nicholas III. (1277-80), who was the founder of the Vatican in its historic form. It had been a residence of the popes since the pontificate of Leo IV. (847-855), who enclosed it with strong walls; and after the exile at Avignon (1308-78), during which the older palace of the Lateran had been burned, the Vatican became the chief papal palace. Pope after pope added to the buildings, or substituted new for old, until the result was marvelous. To Nicholas V. (1447-55) is due the foundation of the famous Vatican Library; Sixtus IV. (1471-84) built the renowned Sistine Chapel, with Michelangelo’s frescoes of the Prophets and the Last Judgment; Julius IT. (1503-13) commenced the celebrated Vatican Museum; Leo X. (1513-21) employed the services of Raffael, and Paul III. (1534-49) and Julius III. (1550-55) of Michelangelo. The real palace of the popes was built by Sixtus V. (1585-90), though it was not completed until the pontificate of Clement VIII. (1592-1605); and among other noteworthy popes to whom important parts of the present Vatican are due were Urban VIII. (1623-44), Pius VI. (1775-99), and Pius VII. (1800-23). The most ancient portion, however, is not in the Vatican
itself, but in the old crypt of St. Peter’s, where are portions of the basilica erected by Constantine the Great, as well as the oldest monument of all, the tomb of St. Peter, constructed by popes Linus and Anacletus (67-86). '
The Vatican palace jtself is a congeries of buildings measuring, according to the usual estimates, some 1,151 feet long by 767 broad (though these figures are probably under the true dimensions), and covering an area of 133 acres. The number of apartments is enormous, and must be at least 1,000. though some estimates run as high as 12,500. Within the palace precincts are twenty courtyards, of which the most important are the Cortile di San
Damaso, at the main entrance to the
2. Papal Vatican, and the Cortile della Sentinel-
and other la, architecturally one of the most
Official impressively medieval portions of the Apartments. entire Vatican. Besides some 200
minor stairways, there are eight grand flights, the most noteworthy being the Scala Pia (forming the main approach to the palace) an4 the Scala Regia, or state stairway, commenced by Urban VIII. (1623-44) and completed in the pontificate of Alexander VII. (1655-67). The actual apartments of the pope are on the east side of the Cortile de San Damaso, and are only some twenty-two in number. This portion of the palace includes the pope’s library, study, bedroom, private reception room, and chapel, the Hall of the Grooms (Sala dei Palafrenieri), the Sala Clementina (where a detachment of the famous Swiss Guards is stationed), the Sala dei Bussolanti (a sort of cloak-room for those admitted to a papal audience), the Anticamera d’Onore (where, on the papal throne, the pontiff receives important bodies of visitors and hears the Lenten and Advent sermons), and the Anticamera Segreta (which only privy councilors and cardinals may enter). On the west of the same court are the Borgia Apartments, forming the official residence of the cardinal secretary of state, and comprising the Sala dei Pontifici, the Sala dei Misteri, the Camera della Vita dei Santi, and the Camera delle Arti e Scienze (where the cardinal secretary holds his audiences). These rooms, which were built at the command of Alexander VI. (1492-1503) and adorned with exquisite frescoes by Pinturicchio (notably the Annunciation, Resurrection, and Disputation of St. Catharine), have beyond them the study of the cardinal secretary (the Sala dello Credo, so called from the frescoes of the twelve apostles, each holding a scroll bearing his portion of the Apostles’ Creed), and above them are four rooms frescoed mainly by Raffael, while to their right is the exquisite chapel of Nicholas V., which contains the masterpieces of Fra Angelico, executed by him between 1450 and 1455. Running left from the Borgia Apartments are the Sala del Papagello, where the pope is vested before pontificating at St. Peter’s, and the Sala dei Paramenti, the robing-room of the cardinals before great functions; while, still to the left, and separated from the Borgia Apartments by the Cortile del Papagello, are the Sala Ducale and the Sala Regia, from the latter of which access is gained to the famous Sistine Chapel, as well as to the Capella Paolina, with two fine frescoes by Michelangelo—