What was the Sistine Chapel originally called before it took its present name?

The Sistine Chapel was originally called the Cappella Magna, meaning “Great Chapel.” The name referred to the older papal chapel that stood in the Vatican before Pope Sixtus IV rebuilt it in the late fifteenth century.

The new chapel became known as the Cappella Sistina, or Sistine Chapel, after Sixtus IV. Its Italian name therefore derives from the pope’s name rather than from its artistic decoration. The earlier Cappella Magna had served papal worship and court ceremonies, but the rebuilt structure provided a more secure and monumental setting.

A common mix-up is confusing the Sistine Chapel with the nearby Pauline Chapel, which was built later for Pope Paul III. The Sistine Chapel remains especially famous for Michelangelo’s ceiling and Last Judgment, but its original role was as a papal chapel and ceremonial space.