Belvedere

I was starting a story recently one of the characters informed another that she is in “the Belvedere”. This is the kind of thing that happens in first drafts--the characters say something and I figure out later what they mean and whether they are talking nonsense. I have no idea what “the Belvedere” might be, but what I was using it to mean was actually very precise--I pictured it to mean a kind of spacious walkway, in front of impressive old buildings, such as that area in Bath that they film in all the Jane Austen period movies that are located there. I am pretty sure as I write this that I am rather far from the mark. But rather than just look it up and change it in the story, I thought it would make a good post.

…I'd say I pretty much struck out on this one. It actually means a small roofed structure, open on one or more sides, and very often on top of another building, from which one can see a beautiful view. (Bel--beautiful, and vedere--to see: elementary, my dear Watson.) The only possible excuse I have is that there are some very famous Belvederes, notably the villa and court at the Vatican, which has a famous district of the same name around it. There are actually a lot of grand buildings and forts, etc. that have grabbed the name of Belvedere, obviously to imply status of some sort. But none of them are really quite what I was thinking of. Perhaps I’ll keep it though—it may allude to a fashionable district without my having to spell it out in detail right away.