Belvedere (occasionally Belvidere) is an architectural term adopted from Italian (literally "fair view"), which refers to any architectural structure sited to take advantage of such a view. A belvedere may be built in the upper part of a building so as to command a fine view. The actual structure can be of any form, whether a turret, a cupola or an open gallery (in Italian an altana).
On the hillside above the Vatican Palace, Antonio Pollaiuolo built a small casino named the palazzetto or the Belvedere for Pope Innocent VIII. Some years later Donato Bramante linked the Vatican with the Belvedere, under a commission from Pope Julius II by creating the Cortile del Belvidere ("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."
