- belvedere
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/bel"vi dear', bel'vi dear"/; for 3 also It. /bel've de"rdde/, n.1. a building, or architectural feature of a building, designed and situated to look out upon a pleasing scene.2. a cigar, shorter and with thinner ends than a corona.3. (cap.) a palace in Vatican City, Rome, used as an art gallery.[1590-1600; < It: fine view < L bellus fine + videre to see]
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Roofed architectural structure, freestanding or attached, and open on one or more sides.It is built in an elevated position to provide a view and capture daylight and fresh air. Used in Italy since the Renaissance, it often assumes the form of a loggia. The term is often used for a gazebo on top of a building, especially the glazed viewing room of a Victorian dwelling.* * *
(Italian: “beautiful view”), architectural structure built in an elevated position to provide lighting and ventilation and to command a fine view. Roofed but open on one or more sides, a belvedere may be located in the upper part of a building or may stand as a separate structure. It often assumes the form of a loggia, or open gallery.The belvedere has been used in Italy since the Renaissance; in the colder climate of northern Europe it is largely an architectural ornamentation. The term is sometimes applied to an entire building with a planned view, as the Belvedere gallery in the Vatican or the Belvedere palace in Vienna. The gazebo (q.v.) is a freestanding belvedere, usually open on all sides but often enclosed by wire screening.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
