Lateran Palace: Difference between revisions

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== Notes ==
== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=Notes|60em|refs=
{{Reflist|group=Notes|60em|refs=
<ref name=Notes1>The basilica and the palace, which are owned by the [[Holy See]] (article 13 of the [http://www.vaticanstate.va/NR/rdonlyres/3F574885-EAD5-47E9-A547-C3717005E861/2528/LateranTreaty.pdf Lateran Treaty),] "form(s) part of the territory of the Italian State (but) enjoy(s) the immunities granted by International Law to the headquarters of the diplomatic agents of foreign States" (article 15 of the Lateran Treaty).</ref>
<ref name=Notes1>The basilica and the palace, which are owned by the [[Holy See]] (article 13 of the [http://www.vaticanstate.va/NR/rdonlyres/3F574885-EAD5-47E9-A547-C3717005E861/2528/LateranTreaty.pdf Lateran Treaty),] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813090725/http://www.vaticanstate.va/NR/rdonlyres/3F574885-EAD5-47E9-A547-C3717005E861/2528/LateranTreaty.pdf |date=2011-08-13 }} "form(s) part of the territory of the Italian State (but) enjoy(s) the immunities granted by International Law to the headquarters of the diplomatic agents of foreign States" (article 15 of the Lateran Treaty).</ref>
<ref name=Notes2>Geographic location: {{coord|25|43|7.46|N|32|39|26.64|E|region:EG_type:landmark|name=Lateranense_Karnak}}</ref>
<ref name=Notes2>Geographic location: {{coord|25|43|7.46|N|32|39|26.64|E|region:EG_type:landmark|name=Lateranense_Karnak}}</ref>
}}
}}

Revision as of 03:55, 1 December 2017

Obelisk of Thutmosis III
in front

The Lateran Palace (

Latin: Palatium Apostolicum Lateranense), is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main papal residence in southeast Rome
.

Located on St. John's Square in Lateran on the

Cardinal vicar, the pope's delegate for the daily administration of the diocese. Until 1970, the palace was also home to the important collections of the Lateran Museum, now dispersed among other parts of the Vatican Museums
.

Following the Lateran Treaty of 1929, the palace and adjoining basilica are extraterritorial properties of the Holy See.[Notes 1]

History

Pre-papal use

The site on which the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano sits was occupied during the early

plebeian to attain the rank of consul, in 366 BC. One of the Laterani, Consul-designate Plautius Lateranus, became famous for being accused by Nero of conspiracy against the emperor. The accusation resulted in the confiscation and redistribution of his properties.[1]

Constantinian era

Main article:
Constantine I and the bishops of Rome

The Domus Laterani fell into the hands of the emperor when

Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano on the site.[2] The "domus" was eventually given to the Bishop of Rome by Constantine. The actual date of the gift is unknown but scholars believe it had to have been during the pontificate of Pope Miltiades, in time to host a synod of bishops in 313 that was convened to challenge the Donatists.[1]

Subsequent renovations

Copy of the Byzantine mosaics that used to be on the apse of the Leonian Triclinium, one of the main halls of the ancient Lateran palace

As Byzantium grew less able to help prevent Lombard incursions, the papacy became more independent of the Empire. Author Erik Thunø notes that the incentive to refurbish the Lateran Palace was to create an imperial residence from which the pope could exercise not only spiritual but also temporal authority.

Apostles; on the left he gives the keys to St. Sylvester and the Labarum to Constantine, while on the right St. Peter gives the stole to Leo III and the standard to Charlemagne, an image meant to represent the Frankish king's duty to protect the Church.[3]

The Triclinium and the sala del concilio, an oblong hall with apse mosaic and five ornate niches on each side, were built around 800 to serve as the heart of papal ceremonial. Architecturally they were reminiscent of Byzantine imperial buildings in Constantinople.[3]

Emperor Constantine I

In the tenth Century

Annibaldi
family.

Between this palace and the Lateran basilica was the

Capitoline Square while the original has been safely preserved for display in the Capitoline Museums
.

In its place, the

spina of the Circus Maximus
. The dedication on the base however, gives the glory to Constantine I, not to his son who brought it to Rome.

The whole of the front of the palace was taken up with the Aula Concilii ("Hall of the Council"), a magnificent hall with eleven apses, in which were held the various

Councils of the Lateran
during the medieval period. The private apartments of the popes in this palace were situated between this Triclinium and the city walls.

Avignon Papacy

Giovanni Giustino Ciampini
The Lateran after its reconstruction, from an 18th-century engraving by Giuseppe Vasi

The fall of the palace from this position of glory was the result of the departure of the popes from Rome during the Avignon Papacy.

Two destructive fires, in 1307 and 1361, did irreparable harm, and although vast sums were sent from Avignon for the rebuilding, the palace never again attained its former splendour. The palace had Gothic architectural elements at this point. When the popes returned to Rome they resided first at

Sancta Sanctorum, and erected the present much smaller edifice in its place, designed by his favorite architect Domenico Fontana.[2]

16th-century alterations

The architect he employed, immediately upon his election, was Domenico Fontana, who was engaged in alterations to the basilica at the same time. Fontana's strong, restrained style, was influenced by Giacomo Vignola and modeled upon Palazzo Farnese for its regular and harmonious if somewhat bland major façade. Fontana's sound engineering basis and power of coordinating a complicated architectural program on a tightly constrained site, which Sixtus urged forward at top speed, have been considered remarkable.[4]

A notice on 29 August 1589 announced that the work had been completed: "A great palace in Piazza Lateranese has been brought to completion by Sixtus V."

Clement XII
, who surmounted it with his coat-of-arms in 1735.

From the old Lateran constructions three monuments survive, two of which are located in one building built by

Sancta Sanctorum
.

Modern use

The Lateran remained in a suburban environment, surrounded by gardens and vineyards, until the growth of modern Rome in the later nineteenth century. Its site was considered unhealthy in Rome's

Pius IX
founded at the Lateran a museum of religious art and pagan culture for overflow from the Vatican galleries.

In 1925

Pius XI established an ethnographic museum devoted to artifacts sent back by missionaries. On 11 February 1929, the Lateran Treaty was signed here, at last regulating the relations between the Holy See and the Italian State. It established that both the basilica and the Lateran Palace were extraterritorial properties of the Holy See, enjoying privileges similar to foreign embassies on Italian soil.[Notes 1]

During the Second World War, the Lateran and its related buildings provided a safe haven from the Nazis and Italian Fascists for numbers of Jews and other refugees. Among those who found shelter there were

Pontifical Major Roman Seminary at the Lateran offered a wing of their convent. The grounds also housed Italian soldiers.[5]

Fathers Vincenzo Fagiolo and Pietro Palazzini, vice-rector of the seminary, were recognized by Yad Vashem for their efforts to assist Jews.[6][7]

Seat of the Vicariate of Rome

Museo Storico Vaticano
, which illustrates the history of the Papal States. It was moved to the palace in 1987 and opened to the public in 1991.

On 27 July 1992, a bomb explosion devastated the facade of the Rome Vicariate at St. John Lateran. The attack is widely assumed to have been the work of the

Italian Mafia, a warning against Pope John Paul II's frequent anti-Mafia statements. Repairs were completed in January 1996.[2]

As for the present pastoral functions of the palace, it today houses the offices of the Vicariate of Rome, as well as the living quarters of the Cardinal Vicar General of His Holiness for the Diocese of Rome.

Tourists can visit the papal apartments, usually in the morning.

See also

  • Index of Vatican City-related articles

Notes

  1. ^ a b The basilica and the palace, which are owned by the Holy See (article 13 of the Lateran Treaty), Archived 2011-08-13 at the Wayback Machine "form(s) part of the territory of the Italian State (but) enjoy(s) the immunities granted by International Law to the headquarters of the diplomatic agents of foreign States" (article 15 of the Lateran Treaty).
  2. ^ Geographic location: 25°43′7.46″N 32°39′26.64″E / 25.7187389°N 32.6574000°E / 25.7187389; 32.6574000 (Lateranense_Karnak)

References

  1. ^ a b Barnes, Arthur. "Saint John Lateran." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 16 Jul. 2014
  2. ^ a b c Hager, June. "Churches of Rome: Christianity's First Cathedral", Inside the Vatican, February 1996
  3. ^ a b c Thunø, Erik. Image and Relic: Mediating the Sacred in Early Medieval Rome, L'Erma di Bretschneider, 2002
  4. ^ a b Ludwig von Pastor, History of the Popes From the Close of the Middle Ages, vol. X p 616.
  5. ISBN 9780809140329
  6. ^ "Palazzini", the righteous among the Nations, Yad Vashem
  7. ^ "Fagiolo", The Righteous Among the Nations, Yad Vashem

External links

Media related to Lateran Palace at Wikimedia Commons

41°53′11.8″N 12°30′20.7″E / 41.886611°N 12.505750°E / 41.886611; 12.505750

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