New & old stoves and chimney installed at the Sistine Chapel

[BrianK]

Sistine Chapel chimney installed as conclave nears

(Reuters) - Vatican workers hoisted a chimney onto the roof of the Sistine Chapel on Saturday in readiness for the conclave of Roman Catholic cardinals that will elect a successor to Pope Benedict....

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(broken image removed)

 

[BrianK]

That thing should draft really well...

 

[begreen]

Tut tut, 2 stoves on one pipe. Wonder what is the magic formula to make black vs white smoke? Oil burner? With 50ft of copper vent they are lucky there is the Swiss guard there.

 

[BrianK]

Tut tut, 2 stoves on one pipe. Wonder what is the magic formula to make black vs white smoke? Oil burner? With 50ft of copper vent they are lucky there is the Swiss guard there.

The one on the left is an electronic smoke maker:

Ballots will be burned in one stove and special coloring chemicals in the other, their fumes mixing in a combined duct to create black smoke to signal an inconclusive vote and white puffs to show a new pope has been elected.
The chimney – a simple, skinny copper pipe – was installed by firefighters Saturday morning. It runs up the wall and out one of the chapel’s windows. The tiny smokestack on the roof is visible to tourists and pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square.
The second stove for the chemicals was added only during the last conclave in 2005, when now-retired Pope Benedict XVI was elected, to help eager spectators avoid confusion over the color of the smoke. As added confirmation when a pope is chosen, the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica will ring.

 

[Badfish740]

Ya gotta love Italy, even the stove technicians (see picture number four) are beautiful! When I was in Rome I swear-even the ladies picking up the garbage looked like supermodels