Maps of Movies

Conclave (2024)

Where Conclave says it takes place, and where it was really shot.

The Vatican's most secret room was built on a film lot, and its stairs are in a palace near Naples

Scenes and places

The cardinals climb to the conclave

Lawrence, as dean of the College of Cardinals, receives the cardinals as they gather to elect a successor to the dead pope. Four men are named as likely winners, and he has to keep the process fair.

Set in Apostolic Palace, Vatican — The cardinals file through the papal palace towards the conclave. Google Maps · Apple Maps

The stairs belong to a Bourbon palace in Caserta; the film borrowed it to play the Vatican.

Filmed at Royal Palace of Caserta, Grand Staircase (Scalone d'Onore) — The palace's grand staircase stands in for the papal palace stairs. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Voting in the Sistine Chapel

On the first day Lawrence opens the deliberations by urging the cardinals to embrace uncertainty. Some hear it as a sign of his own papal ambition, and no one reaches the two-thirds majority.

Set in Sistine Chapel, Vatican — The cardinals vote in the Sistine Chapel. Google Maps · Apple Maps

The real chapel is closed to film crews, so the production built it from scratch.

Filmed at Cinecittà Studios, Rome (built set) — The Sistine Chapel was recreated as a set at Cinecittà. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Locked in at Santa Marta

Lawrence is caught between the cardinals' rival camps, and the progressive Bellini presses him to unite against Tedesco. He pushes back, calling the conclave a vote and not a war.

Set in Domus Sanctae Marthae, Vatican — The guesthouse where the cardinals sleep and talk during the conclave. Google Maps · Apple Maps

The real guesthouse is a plain hotel-style building; the film made its set more prison-like on purpose.

Filmed at Cinecittà Studios, Rome (built set) — Corridors and rooms of the guesthouse were built as a set. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The pope's turtles in the garden

Lawrence steps out of the conclave into the garden to see the late pope's turtles. A fellow cardinal asks after his health, and Lawrence says only that it is perfect.

Set in Vatican Gardens — A garden walk where the late pope's turtles are kept.

The pope's pets are a gift from Angola, according to the dialogue.

Filmed at Royal Palace of Caserta (marble floor) — Marble flooring of the palace was used for the garden walk. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Sister Agnes and the kitchens

On the second day a row breaks out between Cardinal Adeyemi and a nun, Sister Shanumi, and Lawrence learns of a past tie between them. Working with Sister Agnes, he then finds that Tremblay arranged her transfer.

Set in Santa Marta kitchens and dining hall — The service area run by the nuns who cook and clean for the conclave. Google Maps · Apple Maps

The nuns who run the household are the conclave's invisible staff.

Into the sealed papal apartment

Lawrence breaks the seal and enters the dead pope's rooms, where he finds documents showing that Tremblay paid cardinals for votes. He brings them to Bellini, who begs him to hide them, and the two quarrel.

Set in The pope's sealed apartment, Vatican — The late pope's rooms, sealed after his death.

Whether the 'farmhouse' room is this room or a separate one is unclear from the sources.

The blast outside

On the third day, as the cardinals are casting votes, an explosion shakes the Piazza del Risorgimento and damages the Sistine Chapel. The college is left to deal with it.

Set in Piazza del Risorgimento, Rome — A public square beside the Vatican wall. Google Maps · Apple Maps

The square sits just outside the Vatican walls.

Filmed at Royal Palace of Caserta, Cannocchiale gallery — Vatican corridors Google Maps · Apple Maps

Characters

• Lawrence — The English cardinal who, as dean, must run the election of a new pope.
• Bellini — A progressive American cardinal who wants to stop the traditionalist Tedesco.