Apostolic Palace. Apostolic or Vatican Palace. Exterior of the palace

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Apostolic Palace(also called Vatican Palace or papal palace listen)) is the official residence of the Pope, located in the Vatican. Official name - Palace of Sixtus V(English) Palace of Sixtus V ).

The building complex of the Apostolic Palace includes the Pontifical Apartments, government offices of the Roman Catholic Church, several chapels, the Vatican Museums, and the Vatican Library. The audience halls are located on the 3rd floor of the palace, among them the Clementine Hall, the Consistory Hall, the Large and Small throne rooms, the papal library (the Pope's office and a room for private audiences). On the fourth floor are the premises of the papal secretariat. The palace has more than 1000 rooms that are world famous due to the greatest works of art they contain: the Sistine Chapel and its famous ceiling frescoes by Michelangelo (restored in - years) and Raphael's Stanzas.

Before the transfer of the capital of Italy to Rome, the Quirinal Palace served as the pope's summer residence. Another papal residence is located in the Lateran Palace, and in the town of Castel Gandolfo there is a country summer residence.

Construction history

Plan of the northern part of the Apostolic Palace (Rodolfo Lanciani, 1893-1901).

Plan of the southern part of the Apostolic Palace (Rodolfo Lanciani, 1893-1901).

There is no exact information about the beginning of the construction of the Vatican Palace: some attribute it to Constantine the Great, others attribute the original construction to the time of Pope Symmachus (VI century). It is only certain that during the arrival of Charlemagne to Rome for the coronation, the residence of Pope Leo III was the palace on the Vatican Hill; but then the palace was neglected and the pope's residence was moved to the Lateran Palace. Only since the return of the popes from Avignon (1377) has the Vatican become a permanent papal residence and expanded with a number of grandiose outbuildings.

Under Sixtus IV (1471), the famous Sistine Chapel was built. Under Innocent VIII (1490), the Belvedere Palace was erected near the Vatican, which was connected to the Vatican by two magnificent galleries by the architect Bramante, on behalf of Pope Julius II (1503). Bramante were also begun surrounding the courtyard of St. Damaz lodges, which were later completed and painted by Raphael and his students. Pope Paul III built the Pauline Chapel and next to it the so-called. Royal Hall (Sala regia). Under Pius IV and Gregory XIII, the northern and eastern wings of the lodges appeared, and Sixtus V built a transverse gallery that houses the Vatican Library. Clement XIV and Pius VI. so-called. Pius Clementine Museum, and Pius VII - Chiaramonti Museum and held a second transverse gallery, the so-called. Braccio Nuovo (1817-22). Gregory XVI founded the Etruscan and Egyptian museums, and finally, Pope Pius IX covered the Raphael Lodge with a glass roof and built the fourth wall of the courtyard of St. Damaza.

Description of the palace

The Vatican Palace is not a homogeneous architectural whole; it is a collection of palaces, halls, galleries, chapels, belonging to different eras in style and time of construction and containing an unparalleled collection of treasures of architecture, painting and sculpture. The palace has up to 20 courtyards, more than 200 staircases and 12,000 rooms. In appearance, this is an irregular quadrangle, stretching from south to north in an oblique direction from the church of St. Peter. The longitudinal - east and west - facades are formed by two galleries connecting the old Vatican with the Belvedere. The space between these galleries is divided by two transverse galleries: the Library and Braccio Nuovo into 3 courtyards. The first, closest to the Vatican, is called the Belvedere. In the 3rd courtyard there is a Giardino della Pigna garden. Another large garden (Girardino Pontifico) is located to the west of the palace, on a hillside, where the villa of Pope Pius IV (villa Pia), built by Pirro Ligorio, is located.

Southern (oldest) part of the palace

The main entrance is located on the right wing of the colonnade of St. Petra, near the equestrian statue of Constantine the Great. The main staircase (scala Regia) with a magnificent Ionic colonnade (built under Urban VIII) leads to the Royal Hall (Sala Regia), which serves as a vestibule for the Sistine and Pauline chapels. The Sala Regia is decorated with beautiful frescoes by Vasari, Sammacini, the Zucchero brothers, Salviati and Sicchiolante.

The Pauline Chapel is remarkable for two frescoes by Michelangelo: "The Conversion of the Apostle Paul" and "The Crucifixion of St. Peter", significantly affected by the soot of wax candles. During Easter, a service is held here. On the second floor there are the famous lodges of Raphael and 4 rooms, the so-called Stanzas of Raphael, which Raphael and his students painted on behalf of Popes Julius II and Leo X (1508-20). The Constantine Hall leads to the Sala de Chiroscuri (hall of chiaroscuro), from where they go on one side to the San Lorenzo chapel, with frescoes by Fra Angelico, and on the other to the gallery of the Lodges. But the main route to the Lodge is from the courtyard of St. Damaz along the magnificent staircase of 118 steps, built under Pope Pius IX.

In the 19th century, in the 5 rooms of the third floor, behind Raphael's lodges, the Vatican Art Gallery was located, which contained a small number of paintings that are the best works of great masters. Then, on March 19, 1908, the Vatican Pinakothek was opened in one of the wings of the Belvedere Palace, for which a new building was built in 1932 by order of Pope Pius XI.

The Pope's own apartments and the audience hall are located around the courtyard of St. Damaz, from the side of the church of St. Peter.

Belvedere Palace

Niche of the Belvedere and a bronze Roman fountain in the form of a cone.

Garden della Pigna (Cones)

The Belvedere Palace is occupied by the Pius Clementine Museum. Two vestibules lead to the museum: a quadrangular one, with the famous Belvedere torso of Hercules, and a round one, from where a view of the panorama of the city of Rome opens. Next to the round vestibule is the hall of Meleager, where a statue of this mythical hunter is exhibited. From the circular vestibule one enters an octagonal courtyard surrounded by a portico supported by 16 granite columns. Sarcophagi, altars, fonts, bas-reliefs are placed under the portico - all of almost remarkable ancient work. World-famous statues flaunt in the quadrangular niches: Apollo Belvedere, Laocoön and sons, Mercury or Antinous Belvedere and Perseus of Canova.

From this courtyard one enters the gallery of statues, where among other works are Apollo of Saurokton and Cupid of Praxiteles, Sleeping Ariadne. From here, through the Hall of the Beasts (the so-called collection of wonderfully executed sculptural figures of animals), one enters the Hall of the Muses, octagonal, supported by 16 Carrara marble columns, with antique statues of Apollo of Massageta and the Muses found in Tivoli. The Hall of the Muses leads to the Round Hall, with a dome on 10 marble columns, with a floor made of antique mosaics found in Otricoli. In this hall there is a pool of red porphyry, one of a kind in size and beauty, statues of Antinous, Ceres, Juno, Hercules, etc. To the south of this hall is the hall of the Greek Cross, so called by its shape; Here are the red porphyry sarcophagi of St. Helena and Constance.

From here one goes to the inner main staircase of the museum, built by Simoneti and decorated with 30 columns of red granite and two of black porphyry. The same staircase leads to the Egyptian Museum, founded by Pius VII, and to the 2nd floor, where the Candelabra Gallery and the Etruscan Museum, founded by Gregory XVI and occupying room 13, are located, with a rich collection of ancient Italian antiquities.

The staircase of the museum leads to the garden della Pigna. In the end wall of the palace there is a semicircular niche (architect Pirro Ligorio, 1560) with a bronze Roman fountain in the shape of a cone (Italian Pigna) of the 1st century, which gave the name to the whole garden.

Galleries Bramante and Braccio Nuovo

The northern end of the Bramante East Gallery and the Braccio Nuovo Gallery are occupied by the Chiaramonti Museum. Each side of the first gallery is divided into 30 compartments, furnished with a wonderful collection of statues, busts and bas-reliefs (Tiberius, Julius Caesar, Son, Silenus, etc.; busts: Cicero, Marius, Scipio Africanus, etc.). In the gallery of Braccio Nuovo there are statues of: Augustus, Claudius, Titus, Euripides, Demosthenes, Minerva and others; busts: Mark Antony, Lepidus, Adrian, Trajan, etc. From the gallery of Chiaramonte to the south, separated by one lattice, there is a museum of Inscriptions (more than 3000 monuments), founded by Pope Pius VII.

The following museums and halls are located in the Bramante Western Gallery: 1) The Museum of Secular Objects - a collection of antique utensils from various metals, bronze statuettes of idols, precious stones and carvings on ivory. 2) Museum of sacred objects - a collection of ancient church utensils found in the catacombs, etc. 3) Papyri cabinet. 4) Hall of the Aldobrandine wedding. 5) The Hall of Byzantine Artists, in which Gregory XVI placed a collection of paintings from the 13th and 14th centuries. 6) Numismatic cabinet.

The Arazzi Gallery on the 2nd floor of the Bramante Western Gallery contains a precious collection of carpets made after Raphael's cardboards and depicting the deeds of the holy apostles.

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Apostolic Palace(Italian: Palazzo Apostolico, also called Vatican Palace or papal palace listen)) is the official residence of the Pope, located in the Vatican. Official name - Palace of Sixtus V(lat. Palatium Sixti V).

The building complex of the Apostolic Palace includes the Pontifical Apartments, government offices of the Roman Catholic Church, several chapels, the Vatican Museums, and the Vatican Library. The audience halls are located on the third floor of the palace, among them the Clementine Hall, the Consistory Hall, the Large and Small throne rooms, the papal library (the Pope's office and a room for private audiences). On the fourth floor are the premises of the papal secretariat. The palace has more than 1000 rooms that are world famous for the greatest works of art they contain: the Sistine Chapel and its famous ceiling frescoes by Michelangelo (restored in 1980-1990) and Raphael's Stanzas.

Plan of the northern part of the Apostolic Palace (Rodolfo Lanciani, 1893-1901).

There is no exact information about the beginning of the construction of the Vatican Palace: some attribute it to Constantine the Great, others attribute the original construction to the time of Pope Symmachus (VI century). It is only certain that during the arrival of Charlemagne to Rome for the coronation, the residence of Pope Leo III served as a palace on the Vatican Hill; but then the palace was neglected and the pope's residence was moved to the Lateran Palace. Only since the return of the popes from Avignon (1377) has the Vatican become a permanent papal residence and expanded with a number of grandiose outbuildings.

The Pauline Chapel is remarkable for two frescoes by Michelangelo: "The Conversion of the Apostle Paul" and "The Crucifixion of St. Peter", significantly affected by the soot of wax candles. During Easter, a service is held here. On the second floor there are the famous lodges of Raphael and 4 rooms, the so-called Stanzas of Raphael, which Raphael and his students painted on behalf of Popes Julius II and Leo X (1508-20). The Hall of Constantine leads to the Sala de Chiroscuri (hall of chiaroscuro), from where they go on one side to the chapel of San Lorenzo, with frescoes by Fra Angelico, and on the other to the gallery of the Lodges. But the main route to the Lodge is from the courtyard of St. Damaz along the magnificent staircase of 118 steps, built under Pope Pius IX.

The Pope's own apartments and the audience hall are located around the courtyard of St. Damaz, from the side of the church of St. Peter.

The staircase of the museum leads to the garden della Pigna. A semicircular niche is arranged in the end wall of the palace (architect Pirro Ligorio, 1560) with a bronze Roman fountain in the shape of a cone (Italian Pigna) of the 1st century, which gave the name to the whole garden.

The northern end of the Bramante East Gallery and the Braccio Nuovo Gallery is occupied by the Chiaramonti Museum. Each side of the first gallery is divided into 30 compartments, furnished with a wonderful collection of statues, busts and bas-reliefs (Tiberius, Julius Caesar, Son, Silenus, etc.; busts: Cicero, Marius, Scipio Africanus, etc.). In the gallery of Braccio Nuovo there are statues of: Augustus, Claudius, Titus, Euripides, Demosthenes, Minerva and others; busts: Mark Antony, Lepidus, Adrian, Trajan, etc. From the gallery of Chiaramonte to the south, separated by one lattice, there is a museum of Inscriptions (more than 3000 monuments), founded by Pope Pius VII.

The Arazzi Gallery on the second floor of the Bramante Western Gallery contains a precious collection of carpets made from Raphael's cardboards and depicting the deeds of the holy apostles.

The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, located in the Vatican. Also known as the Papal Palace and the Vatican Palace. In the Vatican itself, the building is called the Palace of Sixtus V in honor of Pope Sixtus V.

The Apostolic Palace consists of the Papal Apartments, various offices of the Catholic Church and the Holy See, private and public chapels, the Vatican Museums and the Vatican Library, including the Borgia Apartments, now used to store works of art.

Returning to Rome in 1377 after the Captivity of Avignon, the court of the Pope first chose the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere as his residence, and then the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. By that time, the old Vatican Palace had fallen into complete disrepair, and the Lateran Palace, which was once the official residence of the Popes, was twice subjected to serious fires. In 1447, Pope Nicholas V demolished the ancient fortified building in order to build the current Apostolic Palace in its place. Then, over the course of one and a half hundred years, the palace was completed and decorated. It began to acquire its current appearance at the end of the 16th century under Pope Sixtus V. In the 20th century, by order of Pope Pius XI, a monumental entrance to the art gallery and museum was built.

To be precise, the Apostolic Palace consists of several separate buildings located around the courtyard of Sixtus V (Cortile di Sisto V). It stands to the northeast of St. Peter's, next to the bastion of Nicholas V and the palace of Palazzo Gregorio XIII.

The Borgia Apartments are a series of rooms in the palace reserved for the personal use of Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo de Borgia). It was he who, at the end of the 15th century, commissioned the Italian artist Pinturicchio to decorate the apartments with frescoes. The rooms are part of the Vatican Library and the Vatican Museum - most of them are now occupied by the Vatican's collection of modern religious art, which began in 1973 at the initiative of Pope Paul VI.

Clementine Hall was created in the 16th century by order of Pope Clement VIII in honor of his predecessor, Pope Clement I. Like the other chapels and apartments of the palace, this hall is notable for its huge collection of frescoes and other works of art.

But perhaps the most famous room of the Apostolic Palace is the Sistine Chapel, named after Pope Sixtus IV. It is famous for its frescoes, on which the outstanding masters of the Renaissance worked - Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio, Domenico Ghirlandaio and others.

An amazing mixture of religion, art and culture, the Vatican is one of the most mysterious places in the world, having played an important role in the history of Europe for centuries.

The only Catholic state in the world, the residence of the Pope hides behind its walls an amazing number of historical artifacts and art objects, such as Michelangelo's work on the Sistine Chapel and all kinds of documents testifying to the trial of church representatives over the greatest scientists in Europe.

Secret bridges to escape the city, architectural structures transported from other continents - we invite you to see what the Vatican looks like from the inside.

Architectural 3D city model

The first thing visitors see after passing through the Vatican walls is the huge St. Peter's Square. Roman columns close the edges of the square, and in the very center stands a 41-meter obelisk, brought by Emperor Caligula from Egypt.

On the same square, parishioners gather to listen to the speeches and sermons of the Pope from his balcony.

The central attraction is St. Peter's Basilica, towering over the square. It took 120 years to build the facade of the building and fully equip the interior.

The basilica was built on the hill where Emperor Nero allegedly ordered the execution of that same Peter. This historical monument is filled with the skill of painters and sculptors from different eras.

The famous massive dome, decorated by Michelangelo himself, “crowns” the basilica.

From the top of the dome - which can be reached by climbing 551 steps - offers a magnificent view of Rome and the gardens of the Vatican, spreading from the back of the basilica.

The gardens cover about 60 acres - more than half of the total area of the Vatican - and are usually inaccessible to visitors, as they were originally conceived as a personal recreation area for popes.

Among the gardens are located including the government palace and even the heliport of the Pope.

Next to the heliport hangs a traditional plaque with an inscription in Latin: “So that the pope can conveniently look over his possessions in the Vatican from the air. Supreme Pontiff Paul VI.

To the north of the basilica, adjacent to the gardens, are the Vatican palaces - a whole chain of interconnected buildings, together numbering more than a thousand rooms.

The palaces contain many chapels, government buildings and apartments. The complex of palaces has traditionally served as the home of the Pope since the 14th century.

A significant part of the complex of palaces today is reserved for the Vatican Museums.

The total length of the intertwining museums of the complex is 14 kilometers. They say that if you spend only a minute on each copy, then it will take four years to familiarize yourself with all the contents of museums.

The art of the museum's galleries is literally everywhere - it can be found both on the columns and on the steps - on the ceilings and on the walls.

The gem of the museum is the Sistine Chapel, the chapel where Michelangelo and other Renaissance artists worked for 60 years to hone their works. Due to the large concentration of tourists in the chapel, the security service periodically asks the public to switch to a whisper.

By the way, the Sistine Chapel is the home of the very conclave where the cardinals gather to vote in the election of the next pope. When the decision is finally made, white smoke is emitted from the chimney on the roof of the chapel.

Next to the chapel is the Apostolic Palace, originally built for the residence of Pope Sixtus V and then periodically used by popes for living and receiving guests. This is the White House in the Vatican.

This is what the palace looks like from the inside.

The richly decorated Apostolic Library is a favorite place for popes to receive foreign guests.

Guarding the Apostolic Palace - and, one should think, the entire Vatican - the smallest army in the world, consisting of four soldiers. Such a small Swiss guard has traditionally been hired by the Holy See since 1506, and in order to get into it, you must be a bachelor, a doorman by nationality and a Catholic between the ages of 19 and 30.

In fact, of course, most of the security activities are performed by the so-called papal gendarmerie, but officially it is not an army. An interesting fact: in percentage terms, the Vatican is the most militarized country in the world, because 101 out of 557 of its citizens are formally in the armed forces. In second place is North Korea.

The army has not always been able to keep the head of the church safe - several times in history, popes have escaped through the so-called Passetto, a fortified corridor about 800 meters long connecting the Vatican to the Castel Sant'Angelo. The last time it was used by Pope Clement VII, after the Vatican in 1527 was captured by the troops of Emperor Charles V, killing all members of the Swiss guard on the steps of the basilica.

The audience halls are located on the third floor of the palace, among them the Clementine Hall, the Consistory Hall, the Large and Small throne rooms, the papal library (the Pope's office and a room for private audiences). On the fourth floor are the premises of the papal secretariat. The palace has more than 1000 rooms that are world famous for the greatest works of art they contain: the Sistine Chapel and its famous ceiling frescoes by Michelangelo (restored in 1980-1990) and Raphael's Stanzas.

Construction history

Southern (oldest) part of the palace

The Pauline Chapel is remarkable for two frescoes by Michelangelo: "The Conversion of the Apostle Paul" and "The Crucifixion of St. Peter", significantly affected by the soot of wax candles. During Easter, a service is held here. On the second floor there are the famous lodges of Raphael and 4 rooms, the so-called Stanzas of Raphael, which Raphael and his students painted on behalf of Popes Julius II and Leo X (1508-20). The Hall of Constantine leads to the Sala de Chiroscuri (hall of chiaroscuro), from where they go on one side to the chapel of San Lorenzo, with frescoes by Fra Angelico, and on the other to the gallery of the Lodges. But the main route to the Lodge is from the courtyard of St. Damaz along the magnificent staircase of 118 steps, built under Pope Pius IX.

The Pope's own apartments and the audience hall are located around the courtyard of St. Damaz, from the side of the church of St. Peter.

Belvedere Palace

From here one goes to the internal main staircase of the museum, built by Simoneti and decorated with 30 columns of red granite and two of black porphyry. The same staircase leads to the Egyptian Museum, founded by Pius VII, and to the 2nd floor, where the Candelabra Gallery and the Etruscan Museum, founded by Gregory XVI and occupying room 13, are located, with a rich collection of ancient Italian antiquities.

Galleries Bramante and Braccio Nuovo

The Arazzi Gallery on the second floor of the Bramante Western Gallery contains a precious collection of carpets made from Raphael's cardboards and depicting the deeds of the holy apostles.

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Notes

An excerpt characterizing the Apostolic Palace

“Here, eat, master,” he said, again returning to his former respectful tone and unwrapping and serving Pierre several baked potatoes. - There was stew at dinner. And the potatoes are important!
Pierre had not eaten all day, and the smell of potatoes seemed to him unusually pleasant. He thanked the soldier and began to eat.
- Well, so then? - the soldier said smiling and took one of the potatoes. - And here's how you are. - He again took out a folding knife, cut the potatoes into equal two halves in his palm, sprinkled salt from a rag and brought it to Pierre.
“Potatoes are important,” he repeated. - You eat like this.
It seemed to Pierre that he had never eaten food tastier than this.
“No, it’s all right for me,” said Pierre, “but why did they shoot these unfortunates! .. The last one was about twenty years old.
“Tsk, tsk…” said the little man. “That’s a sin, that’s a sin ...” he quickly added, and, as if his words were always ready in his mouth and inadvertently flew out of him, he continued: “What is it, sir, did you stay in Moscow like that?
I didn't think they would come so soon. I accidentally stayed, - said Pierre.
- But how did they take you, falcon, from your house?
- No, I went to the fire, and then they grabbed me, they tried me for an arsonist.
“Where there is judgment, there is untruth,” put in the little man.
– How long have you been here? asked Pierre, chewing the last potato.
– I that? That Sunday I was taken from the hospital in Moscow.
Who are you, soldier?
- Soldiers of the Apsheron regiment. He died of a fever. They didn't tell us anything. There were twenty of our people. And they didn’t think, they didn’t guess.
- Well, are you bored here? Pierre asked.
- How boring, falcon. Call me Plato; Karataev’s nickname, ”he added, apparently in order to make it easier for Pierre to address him. - Nicknamed Falcon in the service. How not to be bored, falcon! Moscow, she is the mother of cities. How not to get bored looking at it. Yes, the worm is worse than cabbage, but before that you yourself disappear: that’s what the old people used to say, ”he added quickly.
- How, how did you say that? Pierre asked.
– I that? asked Karataev. “I say: not by our mind, but by God’s judgment,” he said, thinking that he was repeating what he had said. And immediately he continued: - How do you, master, have patrimonies? And do you have a house? So, a full bowl! And is there a hostess? Are the old parents still alive? he asked, and although Pierre did not see in the dark, he felt that the soldier's lips were wrinkled with a restrained smile of affection while he was asking this. He, apparently, was upset that Pierre did not have parents, especially a mother.
- A wife for advice, a mother-in-law for greetings, but there is no sweeter mother! - he said. - Well, do you have kids? he continued to ask. Pierre's negative answer again, apparently, upset him, and he hastened to add: - Well, young people, God willing, they will. If only to live in the council ...
“But now it doesn’t matter,” Pierre involuntarily said.
“Oh, you are a dear person,” Plato objected. - Never refuse the bag and the prison. He settled himself better, cleared his throat, apparently preparing himself for a long story. “So, my dear friend, I was still living at home,” he began. “Our patrimony is rich, there is a lot of land, the peasants live well, and our house, thank God. The father himself went out to mow. We lived well. Christians were real. It happened ... - And Platon Karataev told a long story about how he went to a strange grove beyond the forest and got caught by the watchman, how he was flogged, tried and handed over to the soldiers. “Well, falcon,” he said in a voice that changed from a smile, “they thought grief, but joy!” Brother would go, if not my sin. And the younger brother himself has five guys, - and I, look, have one soldier left. There was a girl, and even before the soldiery, God tidied up. I came to visit, I'll tell you. I look - they live better than before. The yard is full of stomachs, women are at home, two brothers are working. One Mikhailo, the smaller one, is at home. The father says: “To me, he says, all the children are equal: no matter what finger you bite, everything hurts. And if Plato had not been shaved then, Mikhail would have gone. He called us all - you believe - he put us in front of the image. Mikhailo, he says, come here, bow at his feet, and you, woman, bow, and bow to your grandchildren. Got it? speaks. So, my dear friend. Rock heads looking. And we judge everything: it’s not good, it’s not okay. Our happiness, my friend, is like water in a nonsense: you pull - it puffed up, and you pull it out - there is nothing. So that. And Plato sat down on his straw.
After a few moments of silence, Plato stood up.
- Well, I'm tea, do you want to sleep? - he said and quickly began to cross himself, saying:
- Lord, Jesus Christ, Saint Nicholas, Frola and Lavra, Lord Jesus Christ, Saint Nicholas! Frola and Lavra, Lord Jesus Christ - have mercy and save us! - he concluded, bowed to the ground, got up and, sighing, sat down on his straw. - That's it. Put, God, a pebble, raise a ball, - he said and lay down, pulling on his overcoat.
What prayer did you read? Pierre asked.
- Ash? - Plato said (he was already asleep). - Read what? He prayed to God. And don't you pray?
“No, and I pray,” said Pierre. - But what did you say: Frola and Lavra?
- But what about, - Plato answered quickly, - a horse festival. And you need to feel sorry for the cattle, - said Karataev. - Look, the rogue, curled up. You've warmed up, you son of a bitch," he said, feeling the dog at his feet, and, turning again, immediately fell asleep.
Outside, weeping and shouting were heard somewhere in the distance, and fire was visible through the cracks of the booth; but it was quiet and dark in the booth. Pierre did not sleep for a long time and with open eyes lay in the darkness in his place, listening to the measured snoring of Plato, who lay beside him, and felt that the previously destroyed world was now being erected in his soul with new beauty, on some new and unshakable foundations.

In the booth, which Pierre entered and in which he stayed for four weeks, there were twenty-three captured soldiers, three officers and two officials.
All of them then appeared to Pierre as if in a fog, but Platon Karataev remained forever in Pierre's soul the strongest and dearest memory and personification of everything Russian, kind and round. When the next day, at dawn, Pierre saw his neighbor, the first impression of something round was completely confirmed: the whole figure of Plato in his French overcoat belted with a rope, in a cap and bast shoes, was round, his head was completely round, back, chest, shoulders, even the arms that he wore, as if always about to embrace something, were round; a pleasant smile and large brown gentle eyes were round.
Platon Karataev must have been over fifty years old, judging by his stories about the campaigns in which he participated as a longtime soldier. He himself did not know and could not in any way determine how old he was; but his teeth, bright white and strong, which kept rolling out in their two semicircles when he laughed (as he often did), were all good and whole; not a single gray hair was in his beard and hair, and his whole body had the appearance of flexibility and especially hardness and endurance.
His face, despite the small round wrinkles, had an expression of innocence and youth; his voice was pleasant and melodious. But the main feature of his speech was immediacy and argumentativeness. He apparently never thought about what he said and what he would say; and from this there was a special irresistible persuasiveness in the speed and fidelity of his intonations.
His physical strength and agility were such during the first time of captivity that he did not seem to understand what fatigue and illness were. Every day in the morning and in the evening, lying down, he said: “Lord, put it down with a pebble, raise it up with a ball”; in the morning, getting up, always shrugging his shoulders in the same way, he would say: "Lie down - curled up, get up - shake yourself." And indeed, as soon as he lay down to immediately fall asleep like a stone, and as soon as he shook himself, in order to immediately, without a second of delay, take up some business, the children, having risen, take up toys. He knew how to do everything, not very well, but not badly either. He baked, steamed, sewed, planed, made boots. He was always busy and only at night allowed himself to talk, which he loved, and songs. He sang songs, not like songwriters sing, knowing that they are being listened to, but he sang like birds sing, obviously because it was just as necessary for him to make these sounds, as it is necessary to stretch or disperse; and these sounds were always subtle, tender, almost feminine, mournful, and his face was very serious at the same time.
Having been captured and overgrown with a beard, he, apparently, threw away everything that was put on him, alien, soldierly, and involuntarily returned to the former, peasant, people's warehouse.
“A soldier on leave is a shirt made of trousers,” he used to say. He reluctantly spoke about his time as a soldier, although he did not complain, and often repeated that he had never been beaten during his entire service. When he told, he mainly told from his old and, apparently, dear memories of the "Christian", as he pronounced, peasant life. The proverbs that filled his speech were not those, for the most part, indecent and glib sayings that the soldiers say, but these were those folk sayings that seem so insignificant, taken separately, and which suddenly take on the meaning of deep wisdom when they are said by the way.
Often he said the exact opposite of what he had said before, but both were true. He loved to talk and spoke well, embellishing his speech with endearing and proverbs, which, it seemed to Pierre, he himself invented; but the main charm of his stories was that in his speech the simplest events, sometimes the very ones that, without noticing them, Pierre saw, took on the character of solemn decorum. He liked to listen to fairy tales that one soldier told in the evenings (all the same), but most of all he liked to listen to stories about real life. He smiled joyfully as he listened to such stories, inserting words and asking questions that tended to make clear to himself the beauty of what was being told to him. Attachments, friendship, love, as Pierre understood them, Karataev did not have any; but he loved and lived lovingly with everything that life brought him, and especially with a person - not with some famous person, but with those people who were before his eyes. He loved his mutt, loved his comrades, the French, loved Pierre, who was his neighbor; but Pierre felt that Karataev, in spite of all his affectionate tenderness for him (which he involuntarily paid tribute to Pierre's spiritual life), would not have been upset for a minute by parting from him. And Pierre began to experience the same feeling for Karataev.