Lateran Palace

The Lateran Palace beside the Lateran Basilica served as the popes' official residence for over a thousand years, until they moved to Avignon in the 14th century and later to the Vatican. Constantine gave the bishop of Rome the original Laterani family palace around 313; under Pope Sixtus V it was entirely rebuilt from 1586 in late-Renaissance style by Domenico Fontana. The Lateran Treaties, signed here in 1929, founded Vatican City and ended a 60-year standoff between Italy and the papacy. The palace now houses offices of the Vicariate of Rome and a historical museum; though territorially Italian, it enjoys extraterritorial Holy See privileges as a national monument.