Vatican audience hall

Vatican Audience Hall, exterior view from the dome of St. Peter's Basilica 2011

The Vatican Audience Hall was built from 1964 to 1971 on behalf of Pope Paul VI. built by Pier Luigi Nervi . This Italian architect became known for his huge, column-free roof structures , especially since his exhibition hall in Turin (1948/49).

description

Sculpture La Resurrezione ("The Resurrection") in the papal audience hall

The Vatican audience hall is usually named after its function (“Aula delle Udienze Pontificie”), its architect (“Sala Nervi”) or its builder (“Aula Paolo VI”). Here, Paul VI Hall , the common name, which is reproduced in many other languages as ( French Salle Paul VI ). Your capacity is enormous. At papal general audiences, almost 6,500 people with a good view find a seat under its huge, parabolically vaulted ceiling with 42 structural ribs. By removing some of the seats, the capacity of the hall can be expanded to over 12,000 people, and by removing all seats to a maximum of 25,000 standing places. In June 1971 the Vatican Audience Hall was opened as part of a general audience with over 15,000 people.

The interior of the hall is shaped by a sculpture about 20 meters wide, seven meters high and three meters deep, which is located in the back of the grandstand. It was created in 1975 by the Italian sculptor Pericle Fazzini and depicts the resurrection of Jesus, "La Resurrezione", rising from the crater of a nuclear explosion. Fazzini wrote:

“Ho pensato di creare il Cristo come se risorgesse dallo scoppio di questo grande uliveto, luogo di pace delle ultime preghiere. Il Cristo risorge da questo cratere apertosi dalla bomba nucleare: un'atroce esplosione, un vortice di violenza ed energia. "

“I decided to depict the resurrection of Christ in a large olive grove, that peaceful place of his last prayers. Christ rises from a crater that was torn open by an atomic bomb: a cruel explosion, a vortex of violence and energy. "

The sculpture, which is also one of the most important works of the sculptor, is made of bronze and brass and weighs around 40 tons. It took seven years to work on it. There were twelve years between the Vatican's first contact with the artist and the inauguration of the work in the audience hall.

The conference hall for the General Assemblies and Extraordinary Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops is located on the first floor above the vestibule of the Vatican Audience Hall . This New Synod Hall ("Aula Nuova del Sinodo") was Paul VI. set up as a small auditorium. Important meetings of the Synod of Bishops took place there for the first time in 1971.

The tribune-like part of the audience hall, on which the Pope's seat usually stands, is located on Vatican territory . The part of the room in which the audience is present belongs to Italy under international law, but is in the extraterritorial property of the Holy See .

By the end of 2008, more than 2000 solar modules were installed on the roof of the audience hall, which were honored with the European Solar Prize 2008 in the category Solar Construction and Urban Development and a gift from SolarWorld AG. The inverters required for power conversion also come from Germany from SMA Solar Technology AG.

meaning

“In terms of architectural history, the Sala Nervi is the most important new building for the Apostolic See in Rome since its late Baroque construction work in the 18th century. Christian travelers to Rome remembered the audience hall next to St. Peter's Basilica as the place of the proper teaching of the Pope. From a pastoral point of view, it actually only demonstrated its full functionality during the pontificate of John Paul II , when many millions of people sought to meet the Pope in more than a thousand general audiences. Since April 2005 Pope Benedict XVI. this tradition of general audiences continued. Like his predecessor Paul VI. John Paul II used to give a speech at the public general audience first, then he warmly greeted the people present. At his express request, the audience hall was given the name »Paul VI« in the 1980s. "

organ

The large organ was built in 1972 by the Mascioni organ building company (opus 932). The instrument has 95 stops on five manual works and a pedal . The instrument is operated from a mobile console. The playing and stop actions are electric.

I positivo aperto Cc 4 Principals 8th' Voce umana 8th' Corno di camoscio 8th' Corno di notte 8th' Ottava 4 ′ Flauto a cuspide 4 ′ Nazardo 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Quintadecima 2 ′ Flautino dolce 2 ′ Terza 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Larigot 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Piccolo 1' Ripieno grave IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Ripieno acuto III  1 ⁄ 2 ′ Tromba 8th' Cromorno 8th' tremolo Harp (from IV.) Campane (from IV.)

II Grand'Organo Cc 4 Principals 16 ′ Principale 1 o 8th' Principale 2 do 8th' Flauto traverso 8th' Bordoncino 8th' Ottava 1 o 4 ′ Ottava 2 do 4 ′ Flauto a camino 4 ′ Duodecima 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Sesquialtera II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Quintadecima 2 ′ Decimanona 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Vigesimaseconda 1' Ripieno grave V 2 ′ Ripieno acuto IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Cornetto combinato Tromba 16 ′ Tromba 8th' Dulciana 8th' Trombina 4 ′ Harp (from IV.) Campane (from IV.)

III Espressivo Cc 4 Bordone dolce 16 ′ Principals 8th' Bordone dolce 8th' Flauto aperto 8th' Viola da gamba 8th' Salicionale 8th' Voce celeste 8th' Ottava 4 ′ Flauto ottaviante 4 ′ Flauto in XII 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Quintadecima 2 ′ Flagioletto 2 ′ Decimino 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Ripieno V 2 ′ Controfagotto 16 ′ Tromba armonica 8th' oboe 8th' Trombina 4 ′ tremolo Harp (from IV.) Campane (from IV.)

IV Solo Espressivo Cc 4 diapason 8th' Clarabella 8th' Viola d'amore 8th' Ottava 4 ′ Flauto dolce 4 ′ Ottavina 2 ′ Cornetto III 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Mistura V 2 ′ Tromba a Squillo 8th' Corno inglese 8th' Clarinetto 8th' Chiarina 4 ′ tremolo harp Campane

V Eco Espressivo Cc 4 Dulciana 16 ′ Principalino 8th' Corno di notte 8th' Voce eterea II 8th' Flauto in eco 4 ′ Fugara 4 ′ Flauto a becco 2 ′ Ripieno etereo III 2 ′ Voce corale 8th' Cornamusa 8th' tremolo Harp (from IV.) Campane (from IV.)

Pedals Cg 1 Gravissima 32 ′ Contrabbasso 16 ′ Principals 16 ′ Subbasso 16 ′ Bordone 16 ′

(Continuation) Basso 8th' Principals 8th' Corno di camoscio 8th' Bordone 8th' Bordoncino 8th'

(Continuation) Ottava 4 ′ Flauto 4 ′ Superottava 2 ′ Ripieno VI 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′

(Continuation) Bombarda 16 ′ Tromba 16 ′ Contrafagotto 16 ′ Trombones 8th' Fagotto 8th'

(Continuation) Clarone 4 ′ Fagotto 4 ′ Claroncino 2 ′ Campane

Pedals d'Eco Cg 1 Basso d'Eco 16 ′ Armonica 16 ′ Bordone d'Eco 8th' Dolce 8th'

Remarks

1. ↑ Bühren 2008 (“Art and Church in the 20th Century”), p. 314, Bühren 2008 (“Paul VI. And Art”), p. 278.
2. ^ Obituary to Pericle Fazzini, referring to his sculpture in the audience hall, The New York Times , December 5, 1987, (Eng.) .
3. ↑ Description of the work La Resurrezione with quotations, illustrations and further sources, (Italian).
4. ↑ Bühren 2008 (“Art and Church in the 20th Century”), pp. 315–316, Bühren 2008 (“Paul VI. And Art”), p. 279.
5. ↑ Eurosolar , the European Association for Renewable Energies e. V., awards the photovoltaic system in the Aula Paolo VI. with the European Solar Prize 2008 in the Solar Construction and Urban Development category .
6. ↑ Solar cells from Germany in the papal audience hall in the Vatican , message from the Foreign Office dated November 15, 2008.
7. ↑ Bühren 2008 (“Art and Church in the 20th Century”), p. 315, figs. 58–59.
8. ↑ Information on the organ  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Italian).  

literature

• Conny Cossa: Modernity in the shade. The Audience Hall Pier Luigi Nervis in the Vatican , Verlag Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-7954-2344-5 .
• Conny Cossa: Modernismo all'ombra - La Sala delle udienze pontificie di Pier Luigi Nervi , Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Rome 2010, ISBN 978-88-209-8446-5 .
• Ralf van Bühren : Paul VI. and the art. The importance of the Montini pontificate for the renewal of pastoral work for artists after the Second Vatican Council , in: Forum Katholische Theologie 24, 2008, pp. 266–290.
• Ralf van Bühren : Art and Church in the 20th Century. The reception of the Second Vatican Council ( Council History , Series B: Investigations), Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2008, ISBN 978-3-506-76388-4 .

Web links

Commons : Aula Paolo VI  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 41 ° 54 ′ 2.5 ″  N , 12 ° 27 ′ 16.9 ″  E