In medieval times orchards
and vineyards stretched
to the north of the Papal
Apostolic Palace, but it was
Pope Nicholas III (1277-1280)
who formalized the area by
enclosing it within walls in
1279. He planted an orchard,
a lawn and a garden. It was
not until the early 16th century
that the Vatican Gardens took
on the aspect we see today,
when Pope Julius II, famous
patron of Michelangelo,
commissioned Donato
Bramante, architect of St.
Peter's Basilica, to redesign
them. Bramante replaced
Nicholas III's enclosure with
a great rectilinear defensive
wall; and created, in High
Renaissance style, the
rectangular Labyrinth, set in
boxwood and framed with
Italian stone pines and cedars
of Lebanon. Bramante also
devised three new ceremonial
courtyards, the "Cortili
del Belvedere", the "della
Biblioteca" and the "della
Pigna".
