VATICAN CITY, JUL 28, 2000 (VIS) - Affectionately called "Vatican Number Two" by Pope John Paul, the summer papal residence at Castelgandolfo is not only larger than the better known Vatican City State, but has a history that is just as long and colorful, and beauty to rival that of the apostolic palace and gardens in Rome.
Castelgandolfo is one of a number of small towns located on beautiful sprawling hills which surround and overlook Lake Albano, about a half hour drive southeast of Rome. The lake, which fills an old volcanic crater, is 961 feet above sea level. Fed by underground sources and drained by an artificial outlet, said to have been built around 398 B.C., it is about two square miles (5 sq km) in size and has a maximum depth of 558 feet.
Located on what was once known as Alba Longa, a city in ancient Latium, reputedly the birthplace of Romulus and Remus, Castelgandolfo and the cluster of nearby towns are known as the Alban Hill towns. Romans also call them the "Castelli Romani" because of the fortified castles originally built on those hills by noble families, around which small towns grew and flourished. Each "castello" bore the name of the lord of the manor.
Castelgandolfo took its name from the Gandulfi family, originally from Genoa. About 1200 they built a small square fortress with crenelated walls, an inner courtyard, several towers and an adjacent garden on the hill where the town which bears their name stands today. The following century the Savelli family bought the property and owned it, on and off, until 1596. In that year, because of a debt the Savellis could not pay to Pope Clement VIII (1592-1605), he took the property and, in 1604, declared it to be patrimony of the Holy See. This was the first nucleus of the papal residence and property as we know it today.
In 1611, Pope Paul V (1605-1621), though he never sojourned in Castelgandolfo, was urged by town officials to provide the papal property with water: he did so and also restored the Palazzolo aqueduct.
In 1623 Cardinal Maffeo Barberini was elected Pope, choosing the name Urban VIII (1623-1644). Even before his election he had spent vacations in Castelgandolfo and had even built a small home near the walls of the original castle/fortress. Once he became Pope he decided to make this spot his summer residence, readapting and enlargening the old fortress.
One of those who assisted him in this work was the illustrious Carlo Maderno who, in 1603, after completing the facade of Santa Susanna's Church in Rome, was named as principal architect of the new St. Peter's Basilica. Maderno designed both a large wing which overlooked Lake Albano, as well as the left part of the facade as seen today from Castelgandolfo's main square. A modest garden was also planted at this time.
Pope Urban VIII moved into the Castelgandolfo residence on May 10, 1626, just six months before the completion of St. Peter's Basilica, following 120 years of work. In 1627, the Pope's nephew, Taddeo Barberini, acquired land and vineyards near the papal residence. Four years later he acquired yet more land and buildings and the entire complex became known as Villa Barberini. Today this is all an integral part of the pontifical property in Castelgandolfo.
Pope Alexander VII (1655-1667) completed the work begun by Urban VIII, including the long gallery which bears his name, with the assistance of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, noted painter, architect and sculptor. Bernini also designed part of the gardens of the papal residence and they can still be seen today. He is best remembered for having designed the splendid colonnade of 284 pillars which embraces St. Peter's Square, one of the fountains in the square, the basilica's Altar of the Cathedra, the tabernacle in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and the baldachin over the central papal altar. Alexander VII also asked Bernini to design the town's parish church, which was named after St. Thomas Villanova.
Clement XI (1700-1721), during his very first visit to Castelgandolfo, conferred the title of "Pontifical Villa" on the property.
Pope Benedict XIV (1740-1758) further beautified the residence, especially the Alexander VII Gallery and, in 1749, he built the Loggia of Blessings, which overlooks the town square and is topped by a beautiful clock.
Benedict's successor, Clement XIII (1758-1769) also embellished the residence, including building the private chapel which bears his name.
Pope Clement XIV (1769-1774) acquired the adjacent villa of Cardinal Camillo Cybo with its lovely 18th century, seven and a half acre garden.
The vicissitudes of the next 100 years included the invasion by Napoleon and the unification of Italy, both of which to smaller or greater degrees affected papal holdings, principally the Papal States.
The Papal States, in fact, under Pope Pius IX (1846-1878, the longest pontificate in history) were incorporated into the new Italy when the peninsula was unified in 1870. From the loss of the Papal States that year to the Lateran Pact between Italy and the Holy See on February 11, 1929, under Pius XI, no Pope ever left Vatican City for a holiday in Castelgandolfo.
With the Lateran Treaty, Villa Barberini now belonged to the Holy See and officially became part of the papal residence complex in Castelgandolfo. Pius XI helped to restore the buildings and land which had been unused for so many years. He even bought several orchards in order to set up a small farm, not only to produce goods for consumption in the Vatican but to underscore the importance of agriculture.
This last acquisition brought the total acreage of the papal property in Castelgandolfo to 136 acres (55 hectares). Vatican City State is 109 acres (44 hectares). In Castelgandolfo, more of the total acreage is dedicated to the farm (62 acres, or 25 hectares) and to gardens than it is to buildings.
The real work of restoration at Castelgandolfo under Pope Pius XI began in 1931. In 1933 the Vatican Observatory, run by the Jesuits, was moved from Vatican City in Rome to Castelgandolfo, because the city lights were too bright for astronomers. Still today, the director of the observatory has an apartment in the palace at Castelgandolfo.
Pius XI also built a new chapel in which he placed a replica of Poland's Black Madonna of Czestochowa. Between 1918 and 1921, he had been, respectively, apostolic visitator and then nuncio in Poland, and had a predilection for the Black Madonna. This chapel has remained unchanged since his day. The Pope's first summer visit was in 1934.
His successor, Pope Pius XII, especially loved Castelgandolfo and spent a great deal of time at this residence, except for the years of World War II. During some of the worst moments of the war, the inhabitants of Castelgandolfo and nearby towns were allowed to take refuge on the papal property, given that it enjoyed the status of extraterritoriality. After the landing at Anzio in 1944, the citizens of Castelgandolfo were allowed to stay at the papal palace whereas those from other towns were allowed sanctuary in the Villa Barberini property. Pius XII's first postwar visit to the lakeside villa was in 1946. He returned often after that and died there on October 9, 1958.
Pope John XXIII (1958-1963) also enjoyed sojourns at Castelgandolfo. He started two traditions here as pontiff: praying the angelus with the faithful on Sundays in the inner courtyard, and celebrating Mass in the parish church of St. Thomas Villanova on the August 15 feast of the Assumption.
Paul VI inaugurated papal trips by helicopter from Castelgandolfo. He died here on Sunday, August 6, 1978.
John Paul II, then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow, Poland, spent several hours here on October 8, 1978. He returned 17 days later as Pope, having been elected on October 16. He is the first Pope to reside at Castelgandolfo in periods other than late spring or summer. He often stays only for a few days a time, perhaps following a long apostolic trip or an arduous schedule of audiences and liturgical celebrations in the Vatican.
Dr. Saverio Petrillo, director of the Pontifical Villas at Castelgandolfo, has been serving the Holy See for 42 years. Director of the villas since 1986 and author of a book entitled "The Popes at Castelgandolfo," he is an excellent, knowledgeable and discreet guide to the papal property and residences.
Dr. Petrillo began his work in Castelgandolfo at the age of 18 when he was asked to take the place of a Vatican employee who was ill. In the ensuing 42 years he has familiarized himself not only with the physical property - the farm, gardens and buildings - but with the multi-century history of the villas as well.
His office, as well as other administrative offices, is located in one of the buildings of the Villa Barberini part of the pontifical property, and offers splendid views of the Castelli Romani and, in the distance, Rome and the Mediterranean. In this same building are the apartments used by the cardinal secretary of state and by the prefect of the papal household. The formal gardens, the farm and the remains of Emperor Domitian's palatial home are all also part of Villa Barberini.
Separate from Villa Barberini, but only a short distance away, are the Apostolic Palace and other gardens. The palace - the building overlooking the lake - is where the Pope resides and where the faithful can join him in the courtyard on Sundays for the noon angelus. At Castelgandolfo, says the director, the Holy Father has the same basic rooms that he has in Rome - a study, private chapel, dining room and library. The rooms, as is the entire palace complex, are on a smaller, more intimate and homey scale. "Everything here," said Dr. Petrillo, "is very intimate, warm and family-like. Even the pace of life is slower, more suited to man."
Director Petrillo, on a tour of the farm, pointed out that it produces eggs, milk (there are 25 cows) and yogurt on a daily basis: these are brought early in the morning to the apostolic palaces in both Castelgandolfo and Rome and are sold as well, under the name "Ville Pontificie di Castelgandolfo," in the Vatican City supermarket. Olive oil is also produced, but in very small quantities. Dr. Petrillo bserved that, until a few years ago, Vatican City had its own bakery and also sold fresh fruits and vegetables in its market.
He said that 60 people work year round on the papal properties in Castelgandolfo, including gardeners, tree trimmers, those who work at the farm, electricians, other maintenance people, etc. Only 20 people permanently reside in buildings on the property.
The heliport, which is not far from the farm, was first used by Paul VI, said the director, in 1963 when he visited the cathedral at Orvieto. Continuous use of a helicopter for short papal trips began during the Holy Year of 1975 when Paul VI would return to Rome for the weekly general audiences.
The beautifully maintained and manicured formal gardens of Villa Barberini have been used by Popes through the centuries for long walks and moments of prayer. The flowers, bushes and trees - of many varieties, and often trimmed to perfection in geometrical shapes - provide beauty, seclusion and tranquility.
One olive tree in the gardens has a special story: Just an olive branch at the time, it was given by King Hussein of Jordan to Pope Paul VI during his trip to Jerusalem in 1964. The late king's son and heir, now King Abdullah, was able to visit the gardens last year and saw the fully grown tree.
Covering a number of acres and grown on terraces, the formal gardens also provide lovely vistas of the Roman countryside. There are statues, fountains, and a labryrinth of walkways and roads, one of which dates to Roman times and is paved exactly like the Old Appian Way. Ruins of Domitian's villa can be found everywhere and occasionally one will see a niche with a statue from the villa.
The Emperor Domitian (81-96), had built a 14 square kilometer villa on this site. Constructed on three levels, the top was for the servants, the middle was for the imperial family and their guests and the bottom was the crypto-portico, which is in near perfect condition nearly two thousand years later. The crypto-portico, reached now by a staircase built into the gardens, was constructed to provide the emperor and his guests with a cool place to walk, talk, and sit to escape from the summer heat of Rome. Enormous in size, it resembles a tunnel - with one end open and the other closed. The closed end has a raised stage-like level, accessible by a staircase: today there is a large cross here. The ceiling is curved and, on the western wall, there are windows at the top level. Dr. Petrillo said these were once covered with alabaster to let in the late afternoon, setting sunlight - but not the heat.
Also at Villa Barberini is the Antiquarium, a museum which houses a small but prized collection of artifacts from Domitian's villa which were discovered over the past century. Only restricted numbers of scholars are allowed to visit the Antiquarium which includes busts, statues, columns, portals, and tables made of marble and various stones, to mention but a few objects.
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