VATICAN CITY, April 27, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - From the Sistine Chapel to St Peter's Square, the locations where the election of Francis's successor will play out in the coming days are part of a priceless cultural heritage.

Here are descriptions of the main spots to watch:

- Santa Marta guesthouse -

A building completed in the 1990s just behind St Peter's Basilica, this is where the cardinal electors stay during the conclave.

In centuries past, the cardinals slept in corridors and rooms of the Apostolic Palace itself. Their new lodgings include en-suite bathrooms and a hotel-style room service.

However, there is one issue: there are not enough rooms for all 135 cardinals who are eligible for the conclave.

They will be assigned rooms by drawing lots but it is not yet known what happens to those who miss out.

Every morning during the conclave, the cardinals will head 500 metres, either on foot or in minibuses with blacked-out windows, to the Sistine Chapel.

- St Peter's Basilica -

Cardinals will celebrate a special mass in this landmark of Roman Catholicism before the start of the conclave.

Following the mass, the Princes of the Church will walk in procession to the Sistine Chapel singing the hymn "Veni Creator Spiritus" ("Come Creator Spirit") in Latin to invoke the Holy Spirit.

The basilica, one of the largest churches in the world, is a jewel of Renaissance architecture and contains the tomb of St Peter -- the first pope.

- Sistine Chapel -

Situated inside the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, this 15th-century chapel is world renowned for its spectacular frescoes by Michelangelo.

A special stove has been installed in the chapel where the cardinals' ballots are burnt after each round of voting during the conclave, until a new pope is picked.

Black smoke indicates that the required majority for a new pope has not been found, white smoke means that there is a new leader of the Catholic world. The colour of the smoke is changed using chemicals.

- St Peter's Square -

Architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, in the 17th century, designed the famous Vatican plaza, which has a 4,000-year-old Egyptian obelisk at its centre.

The famous marble colonnades -- four columns deep -- are arranged in an elliptical shape.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to gather in the square to await the election of the pope.

He will appear to the world for the first time on the main balcony of the basilica's facade, to a cry of "Habemus Papam!" ("We have a Pope!"). He will then deliver his first blessing.