The conclave to select the next Pope is starting, and the Sistine Chapel is the room where it happens. As depicted (with some liberties taken) in the Oscar-nominated film Conclave, this historic event—part religious ritual, part election—occurs 15 to 20 days after the death of the Pope. It involves the cardinals, the senior officials of the church, voting on who among them should become the next pontiff. Cardinals come to Rome from all over the globe to cast their votes; about 70 countries will be represented by the roughly 135 or so cardinals able to vote this year. While they sleep at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, a hotel-style residence for visitors in Vatican City, the cardinals are locked in the Sistine Chapel by day for deliberations and voting. (The word “conclave” comes from the Latin for “with a key.”)More Historic ChurchesAfter discussions, prayer, and reflection, the cardinals vote by writing a name on a piece of paper, folding it twice, and dropping it in a chalice to be counted. The process continues until one cardinal receives a two-thirds majority of the vote. While locked into the 15th-century church, the cardinals won't have access to cell phones or other electronics, but they will have plenty of inspiration to distract them, thanks to the fresco masterpieces on the wall and ceiling. Between Michelangelo’s Creation of Man on the ceiling to inspire divine thoughts and cell-phone-signal-scrambling technology in the floor tiles to prevent info leaks or election tampering, the Sistine Chapel becomes a meeting place between the past and the future, the divine and the secular, during this historic occasion. And the High Renaissance landmark is definitely ready to rise to the occasion. Below are eight design details and interesting facts you likely didn't know about the Sistine Chapel as it awaits Conclave 2025, which begins on May 7th. Regardless of who becomes the 267th Pope, for the next week or so, the Sistine Chapel itself is the star of the show.It Was Built for This MomentMAURIX//Getty ImagesCardinals entering the Sistine Chapel for the first day of the 2013 conclave.Built on the ruins of an existing church in the 1470s, the Sistine Chapel was constructed for use in papal ceremonies. It is High Renaissance in style, and home to frescoes that make the chapel an art history class unto itself, with work by Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sandro Botticelli, and Cosimo Rosselli, not to mention the famed ceiling commissioned by Pope Julius II and painted by Michelangelo Underpromised and OverdeliveredUniversal History Archive//Getty ImagesMichelangelo’s The Last Judgment, one section of his Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes.Pope Julius II hired Michelangelo Buonarroti to paint frescoes onto the Sistine Chapel’s 131-foot by 43-foot ceiling (that’s an area of 5,381 square feet), because the original ceiling, which was just gold stars on a blue background, had cracked. He was commissioned to paint the 12 apostles, but in the end delivered over 300 figures, including Jewish prophets, 20 naked youths, and scenes from the Creation of Man, Noah’s flood, and the Fall of Man. The endeavor took him four years, from 1508 to 1512. The brilliant blue background of the Last Judgment is made from paint created using the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli, and it's said that Pope Julius II paid for the materials in that section of the church, while Michelangelo footed the bill for paints in some other section. There Are Nudes in the Sistine Chapel—Again!Culture Club//Getty ImagesThe Noah After the Flood section of the Sistine Chapel.Among the 300 figures Michelangelo painted were several nudes, including 20 young men called “Ignudi” or “the naked ones,” and souls on their way to judgment. In 1564, the year Michelangelo died, church leaders at the Council of Trento appeared to have a crisis of conscience and passed a censorship law, commissioning artist Daniele da Volterra to paint loincloths, fig leaves, snakes, and more over the body parts not deemed suitable for the Sistine Chapel. He gave over 41 people a wardrobe adjustment, but when the Sistine Chapel was restored between 1980 and 1994, almost half of those were removed. Some historians feel his modifications saved the ceiling from being torn down by overzealous censors. There's a Historic Baptismal Font Where You Could (in Theory) Have Your Baby BaptizedMondadori Portfolio//Getty ImagesOn the first Sunday during Epiphany—the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord—the Pope baptizes babies using the Sistine Chapel’s historic baptismal font. The base of the font is a stone from the River Jordan, where Jesus was baptized. The font itself represents the Tree of Life, holding the rising sun in its branches. While it isCell Phone Blocking Technology Is Built Into the FloorUnlike your average 16th-century church, the Sistine Chapel is up to date on the latest information-blocking technology. Floor tiles that are equipped to block cell phone signals have been installed in the chapel’s new floor and are meant to keep late-breaking info and gossip—the stuff that made the movie Conclave popular—out of the actual conclave.Other privacy technologies that have been used in the past and are likely to come into play again are film to block windows from drones that might fly past, and jamming devices high up on the walls to block any transmission of information in or out. Even the food the cardinals are served must be suspicion-free—local fare often cooked by nuns, rather than pies or other complex foods, which could contain hidden messages.There Is a Cast-Iron Stove for Ballot-BurningMondadori Portfolio//Getty ImagesThe cast-iron stoves from the 2013 conclave.In fact, there are two cast-iron stoves utilized during the conclave. One is where each cardinal’s ballots are burned at the end of every day. (Ballots are burned after every two votes, on odd numbers, with votes taken four times a day, two in the morning, two in the afternoon. So after the first, third, and fifth elections, for example, the stove is fed ballots.) The other stove produces the black or white smoke that lets people outside the Vatican know whether or not a new pontiff has been chosen. The color of the smoke depends on the components being burned; in the past, black smoke has been made up of potassium perchlorate, anthracene, and sulfur, and white smoke is composed of potassium chlorate, lactose, and chloroform resin.It Just Got a Brand New (But Temporary) ChimneyVatican Pool//Getty ImagesOn May 3, 2025, Vatican firefighters installed a new, temporary chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel to prepare for conclave.The cardinals vote daily during a conclave, and the new pope is officially selected once a candidate receives two-thirds of the 135 or so votes. (That is the number of cardinals gathering this year, but one must be under the age of 80 to vote.) At the end of each day that ends without a conclusive majority, black smoke is released from the Chapel's chimney to let people know a pope has not yet been chosen. Once a majority is established, the chimney exudes white smoke instead. Last week, according to NPR, a new, temporary chimney was attached to the chapel to ensure the smoke signals go smoothly during conclave. You Can Visit This Historic Space, Just Not Right NowThe Sistine Chapel is open to the public as part of the Vatican Museums. However, most of the Vatican Museums, including the Sistine Chapel, are closed for Conclave beginning on Monday, April 28, and will reopen once a new Pope is elected. How long will you have to wait to admire Michelangelo’s nudes yourself? Nobody knows for sure, but while there was a conclave that lasted almost three years (from November 1268 to September 1271, after the death of Pope Clement), no conclave since 1900 has lasted more than 4 days, and the last two only took two days. If you really can’t wait, join the throngs in St. Peter’s Square waiting for the white smoke. According to the National Catholic Register, ballots are expected to burn at noon and 7 p.m. local time in Rome each day. (Although, if the next pope is elected on an even-numbered ballot, there's no need to wait for the odd round to burn ballots, so smoke could arise an hour earlier, at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m). It’s one way to see (and smell) history in the making.Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.