The Gemelli hospital where Pope John Paul II is being treated is a vast Catholic teaching hospital.
The pontiff's hospital of choice, it has become known as "The Third Vatican" after the Holy See and his summer home at Castel Gandolfo outside Rome.
The Pope is staying in one of a suite of rooms on the tenth floor of the hospital reserved for his use.
The papal apartments include a chapel, a kitchen and sleeping quarters for his entourage of nuns and Vatican staff.
The hospital, in northern Rome, takes its name from Franciscan theologian and doctor, Agostino Gemelli, who founded the Catholic University in 1922.
Vast
The complex, which stretches across 37 hectares (90 acres) on the edge of a national park and includes a church, research laboratories, a bank, a library and a barbers', was officially opened in 1964.
POPE'S HEALTH SCARES
Doctors at the clinic helped save the pontiff's life when he suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen during a 1981 assassination attempt.
He has since returned to the hospital for medical treatment several times, including surgery to remove an intestinal tumour in 1992 and an operation to take out his appendix in 1996.
The hospital has some 1,900 beds, divided between two sites, and employs a total of 5,000 members of staff including doctors, nurses and administrative staff.
Despite tight security outside the complex, where swarms of journalists and well-wishers have gathered, hospital officials say hospital activities continue as normal.
"The tenth floor - where the papal apartments are located - is only partially closed," hospital spokesman Nicola Cerbino said.
"Those who need to be treated here still are, there's no change for the hospital."
^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©