Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/319

 VATICAN

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VATICAN

taken except some rcarrangemont of the apartments. Micholas V (q. v.) eroctod buildings on the cast and lortli sides of the Cortile del Papagallo, on the spot A'here the Loggia of Raphael and theAjipartamento Borgia and the Stanze stand to-day. Alexander idded to the Palace of Nicholas V the Torre Borgia, \'hich bears his name. Pius II and Paul II beauti- ied the buildings of the south side, and Innocent VIII effected such alterations in the old palace in the por- ico of St. Peter's at the foot of the hill that it was lenceforth known as the Palazzo di Innocenzo VIII. Directly south, in the direction of Sant' Angelo, Nicholas V erected a mighty bastion (called the Tor- ione di Niccolo V), running down from the summit )f the hill to Sant' Angelo. The space mounting the lill in a northerly direction was enclosed by a wall and lerved as a garden {nridarium, rigna). At a distance )f about 700 metres from the palace. Innocent VIII Tectcd a fairly large villa, which may be seen to-day, md which was remodelled by Clement XIV and -"ius VI into one of the most stately portions of the nu.seum of sculpture (see below, section VII). Six- us IV, who dwelt in the apartments of the Cortile del ^apagallo, made important alterations in the rooms if the ground floor to accommodate there the Biblio- heca Palatina (see below, section VIII).

The wing to the south (Galleria delle inscrizioni and vluseo Chiaramonti) was built by Julius II; the lorthern wing (picture-gallery and library), by Pius V. A little later both wings were fully developed nto their present form. The large Loggia {il gran licchionc) near the villa of Innocent VIII was erected )y Pius IV. Pius V erected the apartments to the lorth of the Torre Borgia, and built the three chapels, ituated one over the other, in the western portion of he northern wing. One of these chapels is attached o the library (that on the ground floor), and one to the )icture-gallery on the second floor. Pius V and his uccessor Gregory XIII extended the palace by the onstruction of the wing running southwards to the rorrione. The present papal palace was begun by iixtus V and completed by his successors, Urban VII, nnocent XI, and Clement VIII.

The buildings extending along the southern slope of he hill to Piazza S. Pietro, occupied to-day by the naestro di camera and the majordomo, were erected ly JuUus III, and completed under Pius IX with the onstruction of the magnificent Scala Pia. The luildings branching off from the northern wing to- i-ards the gardens, in the vicinity of the chapels of 'ius V, were built by Paul V. Sixtus V established onnexion between the two longitudinal wings of the lalace by erecting in the middle the Salone Sistino, n which he housed the library. A second transverse luilding, constructed by Pius VII in the eastern ourt, contains theBraccio Nuovo, one section of the (luseum of sculpture. .\11 the other museum build- ngs at the eastern end of the palace were erected or emodelled by Pius VI and Pius VII. The casino onstructed by Leo XIII on one of the towers of yco IV in the gardens now servos as the Vatican Ob- ervatory. This broad sketch of the architectural f the various edifices will afforfl a fairly exact idea of he gradual growth of this vast collection of buildings.
 * istory of the Vatican and the following description

III. Descriptiox of the P.^lape. — The Vatican 'alace is situated on the e:istern sections of the Vati- an Hill. Behind it rises the summit of the hill rith the gardens; at the highest points may still be een the only remains of the Leonine Wall with its wo mighty towers. The palace is approached by he road leading around St. Peter's and by the Scala 'ia, which extends from the Portone di Bronzo to the ^ourt of St. Damasus. The covered way which Pads from the Cortile di Belvedere to the Cortile della ientinella and thence to the exit door situated at the tack of the palace is used only for official purposes.

From the Portone di Bronzo downwards run the pow- erful buttresses of the palace around the eastern and northern sides of the hill as far as the Galleria Lapi- daria (Corridoio delle Iscrizioni). These buttresses are interrupted by the Torrione, which was formerly of great strategic importance and now serves as a maga- zine. At the rear of the Cortile del Forno is the en- trance to the Nicchione and the museum buildings, which are the most elevated portions of the palace. From the cupola of St. Peter's may be seen the whole collection of buildings included under the name of Vatican Palace, a long stretch of edifices with many courts, ending in a row of smaller connected buildings before which stands a great loggia, known as the Nicchione. To the right and left of the loggia and at right angles to it are two narrow buildings, which are

connected transversely by the Braccio Nuovo at a distance of 328 feet from the loggia. These four buildings enclose the Giardino della Pigna, so called because in the loggia stands a gigantic pine-cone of bronze, preserved from old St. Peter's. Except the few un.sightly buildings lying immediately to the left, all the buildings behind the loggia are given over to the museum — especially to sculptures and to the Egyptian and Etniscan museums. In the longitu- dinal wing to the left are accommodated a portion of the hbrary, the Galleria dei Candelabri, and Raph- ael's tapestries; the right wing forms the Museo Chiaramonti. while the transverse building, or Brac- cio Nuovo, also belongs to the museimi of sculpture. After the Giardino della Pigna succeeds the Cortile della Stamperia, a narrow building deriving its name from the fact, that it served as the seat of the Vatican Press (founded by Sixliis V) until 1909. At the back of this court stands the Braccio Nuovo; to the left lie the library, the Galleria delle Carte Geografiche, and the Torre dei (juattro Venti;to the right the library and the Galleria Lapidaria; and in the transverse building in front, the library. The third huge court, Cortile di Belvedere, lies on a much lower level in an exact line with the other two. At the rear and to the left is the hbrary, to the right the Galleria Lapidaria, and in the transverse wing in front the Appartamento