During the Roman Republic, the name "Vatican" was already in use for the Age of Situated between the Janiculum, Vatican Hill, and Monte Mario, and extending down to the Aventine Hill and up to the junction of the Cremer Creek, Vatican is a marshy area on the west bank of the Tiber, across from the city of Rome. Part of the Vatican Hill and the surrounding former Vatican Fields comprise the territory of Vatican City. Along with several other structures, this area is home to St. Peter's Basilica, the Apostolic Palace, the Sistine Chapel, and museums.

The Sistine Chapel serves as the chapel of the Papal Chapel, one of the two bodies of the papal household, known as the Papal Court until 1968, despite being the site of papal conclaves. There were roughly 200 persons in the Papal Chapel under Pope Sixth IV's reign in the late fifteenth century, including priests, Vatican officials, and well-known laypeople. The Papal Calendar stipulated that the entire Papal Chapel had to convene on fifty different occasions each year. 35 of these 50 events were masses, eight of which were held in basilicas, usually St. Peter's, and drew sizable crowds.