Papal apartment, and city wall, Vatican City, Rome. The Papal Apartments, the non-official private, state, and religious, apartments, of the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City. Since the 17th century the Papal Apartments have been the official residence of the Pope in his religious capacity (as Supreme Pontiff). Prior to 1870, the Pope's official residence in his temporal capacity (as sovereign of the Papal States) was the Quirinal Palace, which is now the official residence of the President of the Italian Republic. The Papal Apartments are referred to in Italian by several terms, including appartamento nobile and appartamento pontificio.