Discover Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo

The Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo is not one building but a 54.6-hectare complex set in gardens above Lake Albano: the principal seventeenth-century villa, an observatory, and a farmhouse with 30.4 hectares of farmland. It has served for centuries as the pope's summer residence, and it is extraterritorial -- a property of the Holy See rather than of Italy.

The palace is Carlo Maderno's, designed for Urban VIII and in use from the spring of 1626 -- the same architect who completed St Peter's, working here on a summer house instead. What he produced is the principal structure of a complex rather than a free-standing villa: the estate's 54.6 hectares also carry an observatory and a farmhouse, and Pius XI later annexed the neighbouring Villa Barberini.

The most consequential architectural fact about it is a negative one. When the palace was opened to the public on 21 October 2016, it was opened without undergoing any structural changes. Castel Gandolfo's mayor at the time thought the conversion would be hard to reverse -- "the fact that the palace is now a museum will make a reversal in the future difficult" -- and the opposite proved true: because nothing had been cut into the fabric to make a museum of it, minor renovations from May 2026 were enough to make it habitable again as a residence.

The setting does as much work as the building. The complex stands above Lake Albano in a garden layout occupying the site of a residence of the emperor Domitian, so the terracing and the views were chosen by somebody else first.

It arrived as a bad debt. The Vatican acquired the castle in 1596 in payment of a debt owed by the Savelli family. The castle itself dated from the thirteenth century.

Then it was rebuilt as a papal house. Carlo Maderno designed the palace for Urban VIII, who began using it in the spring of 1626. About half of Urban's successors have used the properties as a summer residence since.

Except for a sixty-year gap, which was political. Between 1870 and 1929 the popes, in dispute with Italy over territorial claims, did not leave Vatican City at all -- so the summer palace stood unused for two generations. Pius XI had the facilities modernised and began using the retreat again in 1934, and under the Lateran Treaty of 1929 the palace and the Villa Barberini he added were made extraterritorial properties of the Holy See.

That status was used as shelter. During the Second World War an unknown number of Jewish refugees took shelter at the palace under the protection of the Holy See, and many people used the site as a refuge from the Allied bombing raids of 1944 -- though more than 500 died in one such attack.

Then it stopped being a residence, in stages. Francis named Osvaldo Gianoli Director of the Pontifical Villas on 7 December 2013; the Barberini Gardens opened to paid escorted tours in March 2014; a public train service from Vatican City began on 11 September 2015; and on 21 October 2016 the palace itself was opened for viewing, with no structural changes made. Francis had announced in June 2013 that he would not spend the summer here as his predecessors had, though he led the Angelus from the town on 14 July. Benedict, in retirement, took a two-week holiday here at Francis's invitation in 2015.

And then it became a residence again. A communiqué of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household on 17 June 2025 restored the palace's status as a place of papal residency, and Leo XIV took up residence for part of his summer holidays from 6 July 2025 -- though at first in the Villa Barberini, the main palace still being a museum. Security problems at the Villa Barberini then settled the matter: minor renovations from May 2026 made the official palace habitable again, and from 5 July 2026 Leo XIV stayed in the Castel Gandolfo Apostolic Palace itself, the sixteenth pope to summer in the official papal summer residence.

Is the palace still a museum?

Partly. It served as a museum from 21 October 2016, and from 5 July 2026 Leo XIV took up residence in the Castel Gandolfo Apostolic Palace itself, making it the papal summer residence again -- but the Vatican Museums still sell the Palazzo Papale as a visit and publish an openings-and-closures calendar for it covering 2026-2027. It is a residence for part of the year and a museum visit for the rest, and the calendar is where the line falls.

What does it cost?

Twelve euros full admission for the Palazzo Papale and the Giardino Segreto together, per the Vatican Museums' tariff page, with reductions published for different visitors.

Where do I buy tickets?

At tickets.museivaticani.va, which the Museums state is the only official site, warning that look-alike domains may charge considerably more.

Can I visit the gardens?

The Giardino Segreto comes with the palace ticket. The Barberini Gardens, on the adjoining villa, have been open to paid visitors on escorted tours since March 2014, mornings every day but Sunday.

How do I get there from Rome?

Since 11 September 2015 the public has been able to travel from Vatican City to Castel Gandolfo on a train previously reserved for the pope.

Whose territory is it?

Italian territory owned by the Holy See. Under the Lateran Treaty of 1929 it has extraterritoriality comparable to that of a diplomatic mission, is exempt from Italian taxes and expropriations, and Italian authorities are prohibited from entering without the consent of the Holy See.

How big is the estate?

54.6 hectares, of which 30.4 are farmland attached to a farmhouse. The complex also includes the principal seventeenth-century villa and an observatory.

Which popes died here?

Pius XII in 1958 and Paul VI in 1978.

What was here before the palace?

A thirteenth-century castle, which the Vatican acquired in 1596 in settlement of a Savelli debt -- and, under the gardens, a residence of the emperor Domitian.