Work to prepare the Sistine Chapel for the gathering of the cardinals to elect a new pope has begun.
The building in Vatican City is the second most visited museum in the world and will become the focus of the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church as it chooses a successor to Pope Francis.
The Vatican has confirmed the conclave to elect a new pope will take place on 7 May.
What work is being carried out?
The main task is the installation of the chimney where ballots will be burned after votes have been made.
The cardinals will use smoke to signal to the world whether the round of voting has been decisive or not.
Black smoke will indicate no decision, but white will confirm a new pope has been elected.
Catholics traditionally gather in St Peter’s Square to watch for the smoke above the chapel.
What does it mean for tourists?
Many visitors to the surrounding city of Rome plan time to view the famous chapel at Vatican City – the world’s smallest independent state – with a high number of trips scheduled well in advance.
But for those heading there now, they will be unable to visit.
“Notice is hereby given that the Sistine Chapel will be closed to the public from Monday 28 April 2025 for the requirements of the Conclave,” reads a statement on the Vatican Museums’ website.
Nearly seven million people are said to have visited the chapel in 2023 with many travelling across the world to view the paintings and structure.
But viewings will not be possible until after the election of a new pope.
Tours of the archaeological area, the Necropolis of the Via Triumphalis, and the Vatican Gardens have also been suspended.
When was the chapel first used for a conclave?
This was after the death of Pope Sixtus IV in 1484, who had been the pontiff since 1471 and after whom the building takes its name.
A number of conclaves have been held elsewhere, including several in the 19th century at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, which is formerly a summer palace for the popes and currently the official residence of the Italian president.
The Sistine Chapel has been the site of all conclaves since 1878.
What art and detail can be seen at the chapel?
The cardinals will be surrounded by the great beauty of the frescoes painted by Michelangelo and other renowned Renaissance artists.
The most recognisable is Michelangelo’s Creation Of Adam, showing God’s outstretched hand imparting the divine spark of life to the first man.
Pope Sixtus IV was an art patron who oversaw the construction and restoration of the main papal chapel – originally called the Cappella Magna – in the 15th century.
But it was a later pontiff, Julius II, who commissioned the works by Michelangelo.
The Italian sculptor and painter created the ceiling art depicting scenes from Genesis from 1508 and 1512, and then later returned to paint the Last Judgement on one of the walls before it was unveiled in 1541.
The side walls are decorated by other artists, including Pietro Perugino, Sandro Botticelli and Domenico Ghirlandaio.
German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once remarked: “Without having seen the Sistine Chapel, one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving.”
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The chapel’s dimensions and thick doors
The cardinals will spend time electing a new pope in a chapel which is 40m (131ft) long, 13m (43ft) wide and 21m (69ft) high.
It is lit on either side by high windows.
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Built from 1473 to 1481, the chapel has thick double doors that will ensure the cardinals are not interrupted.
The surroundings are as much a key part of the secretive process aimed at shielding the vote from external interference.
