Editing Belvedere (structure)

{{Short description|Architectural structure sited to take advantage of a fine or scenic view}}
{{Other uses|Belvedere (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Blenheim Palace from the Water Terraces October 2016.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Belvederes on top of [[Blenheim Palace]], England]]
[[Image:PashkovHouseMoscow.JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Pashkov House]] in [[Moscow]], Russia, crowned with a belvedere]]

A '''belvedere''' or '''belvidere''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɛ|l|v|ᵻ|d|ɪər}} {{respell|BEL|vid|eer}}; from {{langnf|it||beautiful view}}) is an architectural structure sited to take advantage of a fine or scenic view.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Belvedere|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/belvedere |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=6 July 2017}}</ref>  The term has been used both for rooms in the upper part of a building or structures on the roof, or a separate [[pavilion]] in a garden or park.  The actual structure can be of any form or style, including a [[Turret (architecture)|turret]], a [[cupola]] or an open gallery.<ref>{{cite web|title=Belvedere bell ve DEER|url=http://www.buffaloah.com/a/DCTNRY/b/belv.html|website=Illustrated Architecture Dictionary|publisher=buffaloah.com|access-date=6 July 2017}}</ref>  The term may be also used for a paved terrace or just a place with a good viewpoint, but no actual building. 

It has also been used as a name for a whole building, as in the [[Belvedere, Vienna]], a huge palace, or [[Belvedere Castle]], a [[folly]] in [[Central Park]] in New York.

==Examples==
On the hillside above the [[Vatican Palace]] ({{circa|1480}}–1490), [[Antonio del Pollaiuolo]] built a small [[pavilion]] ({{lang|it|casino}} in Italian) named the ''palazzetto'' or the Belvedere for [[Pope Innocent VIII]]. Some years later [[Donato Bramante]] linked the Vatican with the Belvedere, a commission from [[Pope Julius II]], by creating the [[Cortile del Belvedere]] ("Courtyard of the Belvedere"), in which stood the ''[[Apollo Belvedere]]'', among the most famous of antique sculptures. This began the fashion in the 16th century for the belvedere.
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==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="120">

Image:Cortile.del.belvedere.1.jpg|A carousel in the [[Cortile del Belvedere]], 1565
File:Klein-Glienicke, Park, Aussichtspavillon Grosse Neugierde.jpg|Belvedere in the park of the [[Glienicke Palace]], in [[Berlin]]
File:Tour du Belvedere.JPG|[[Belvédère tower|Tour du Belvédère]], [[Mulhouse]] in [[Alsace]]
File:Johnsons' Goat Tower, brightened.jpg|Johnson's Belvedere, "Tower of Baaa" in [[Findlay, Illinois]]
File:Le kiosque du Jardin des Plantes (Paris).jpg|[[:fr: Gloriette de Buffon|Gloriette de Buffon]] in the [[Jardin des plantes]] in Paris
File:HaldonBelvedere Devon England.PNG|[[Haldon Belvedere]], in [[Devon]], UK
Image:Musei vaticani - cortile del Belvedere 01137-9.JPG|Patio of the [[Cortile del Belvedere]] in the [[Vatican City|Vatican]]
File:Pražský hrad, Letohrádek královny Anny 02.jpg|Belvedere of [[Queen Anne's Summer Palace]] in the garden of [[Prague Castle]] (1538–1560)
File:Wien SchloBBelvedere03.jpg|[[Belvedere, Vienna]]
File:Belvedere auf dem Pfingstberg in Potsdam Juli 2014.jpg|Il [[Belvedere on the Pfingstberg]] in [[Potsdam]]
File:Vatican Museum pinecone.jpg|[[Cortile del Belvedere]], [[Vatican City|Vatican]]
File:Giardino di Villa Spada, il balconcino.jpg|Belevedere of the [[Villa Spada, Bologna]]
File:ShrubsHillTower WindsorGreatPark 18thCentury.jpg|"Shrubs Hill Tower", [[Windsor Great Park|Windsor]]<br>Renamed "[[Fort Belvedere, Surrey|Fort Belvedere]]".
File:Belvedere Castle, Central Park.jpg|[[Belvedere Castle]], Central Park, New York
File:Belvedere, Plymouth Hoe.jpg|The Belvedere, [[Plymouth Hoe]]
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Architecture}}
* [[Belvedere (M. C. Escher)|''Belvedere'' (M. C. Escher)]], a picture by M. C. Escher which shows an impossible belvedere
* [[Gazebo]]
* [[Gloriette]]
* [[Widow's walk]]

==General references==
* {{cite book | author=Roth, Leland M. | title=Understanding Architecture: Its Elements History and Meaning | publisher=Westview Press | location=Oxford, UK | year=1993 | isbn=0-06-430158-3 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/understandingarc00roth/page/342 342–3] | url=https://archive.org/details/understandingarc00roth/page/342 }}

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Wiktionary inline|belvedere}}

{{Garden features}}

[[Category:Architectural elements]]


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