Papal Coronation - Location of The Ceremony

Location of The Ceremony

The earliest papal coronations took place in St. John Lateran, the pope's cathedral. However, for hundreds of years papal coronations have traditionally taken place in the environs of St. Peter's Basilica, though a number of coronations took place in Avignon, during the Avignon papacy. Earlier, Pope Celestine V was twice crowned in L'Aquila. In 1800 Pope Pius VII was crowned in the crowded church of the Benedictine island monastery of San Giorgio, Venice, after his late predecessor, Pope Pius VI, had been forced into temporary exile during Napoleon Bonaparte's capture of Rome. Since the French seized the tiara along with the previous pope, he was crowned with a papier-mâché tiara, for which the ladies of Venice gave up their jewels.

All coronations after 1800 took place in Rome. Leo XIII was crowned in the Sistine Chapel, due to fears that anti-clerical mobs, inspired by Italian unification, might attack the Basilica and disrupt the ceremony. Benedict XV was also crowned in the chapel in 1914. Pius XI was crowned at the dais in front of the High Altar in St. Peter's Basilica. Popes Pius IX, Pius XII, John XXIII and Paul VI all were crowned in public on the balcony of the basilica, facing crowds assembled below in St. Peter's Square.

Pius XII's 1939 coronation broke new grounds by being the first to be filmed and the first coronation to be broadcast live on radio. The ceremony, which lasted for six hours, was attended by leading dignitaries; these included the heir to the Italian throne, the Prince of Piedmont, former kings Ferdinand I of Bulgaria and Alfonso XIII of Spain, the Duke of Norfolk (representing King George VI of the United Kingdom) and the Irish Taoiseach Éamon de Valera, the last two being in evening dress (white tie and tails).