Cortile del Belvedere, Renaissance courtyard in Vatican City

The Cortile del Belvedere is a long rectangular court north of St Peter's Basilica, designed by Donato Bramante from 1505 to link the Vatican Palace with the Villa Belvedere. Its sides are enclosed by narrow multi-storey wings with arcades and rows of arched windows; a central stone fountain basin stands on the paved floor, which is marked with long white lines. A transverse library wing built in the 1580s divides the original single space into a lower courtyard and the upper Cortile della Pigna.

Architect Donato Bramante began construction in 1505, creating a design that influenced formal garden layouts throughout Western European architecture. Later modifications divided the originally unified courtyard into separate sections.

Pope Julius II established the papal sculpture collection here, featuring Roman works such as Laocoön and His Sons and Apollo from Belvedere. These statues now stand in the museums and shaped European views of ancient art since their discovery.

Access is through the Vatican Museums, which open Monday through Saturday. The terraces lie within the museum route and are visible from different galleries along the way.

Leo X maintained a papal menagerie here where an elephant named Hanno lived, later buried within the grounds. The animal was a diplomatic gift and drew great attention from visitors to the court.