For centuries home of the Popes

We enter with Leo XIV into the papal flat of the Apostolic Palace

About ten rooms with a dining room and medical suite. Leo XIII had the telephone installed there

by Nicoletta Cottone

Entriamo con Leone XIV nell’appartamento papale del Palazzo Apostolico

2' min read

2' min read

We enter with Leo XVI into the papal flat in the Apostolic Palace. At the end of the Regina Coeli from the Loggia delle Benedizioni, the Pope, in the presence of Camerlengo Kevin Joseph Farrell and Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, reopened the papal flat in the Apostolic Palace. The seals that had been affixed on the day of Pope Francis' death, on the afternoon of 21 April, were removed.

It was the papal flat for centuries

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The Apostolic Palace houses the papal flat, which for centuries was the official residence of the Popes. It is located on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace, overlooking St. Peter's Square. It consists of about ten rooms: there is a small office for the Pope's private secretary, the Pope's private study, the bedroom in the corner of the building, a medical suite with dental and emergency surgery equipment, a dining room, a small living room and a kitchen. There is also a roof garden and accommodation for the German Benedictine nuns who run the Prefecture of the Papal Household. Today's structure was gradually defined between the Renaissance and the 17th century, but it was only with Pope Pius X, at the beginning of the 20th century, that the flat took on its modern configuration, becoming the permanent residence of the Pontiff. The papal flat is usually renovated according to the preferences of each new pontiff.

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Leo XII had the phone installed

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Leo XIII had the first telephone line installed there, John XXIII brought simplicity, John Paul II transformed the private chapel into a place of daily spirituality. Benedict XVI lived there until the day of his historic resignation in 2013. Pope Francis chose instead to live in Santa Marta. The flat is a treasure trove of art with frescoed ceilings, antique furniture and sacred works.

The Angelus window over St. Peter's Square

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The one best known to the faithful is the study from which the Pontiff looks out of the window to recite the Sunday Angelus. From there he blesses the faithful every Sunday. A window that represents for millions of faithful the direct contact between the Pope and the world.

Before 1870, the Pope lived at the Quirinale

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Before 1870, the official residence of the Pope in his role as temporal sovereign of the Papal States was the Palazzo del Quirinale, today the official residence of the President of the Italian Republic. The other main residences were the Lateran Palace in Rome and the Palace of the Popes in Avignon.

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