Castel Gandolfo has been the summer residence of the popes since 1626, when Pope Urban VIII spent the first period of stay of a pontiff there. Four centuries later, the custom of leaving Rome in the heat of summer to retreat to a small town on a volcanic lake continues, with a sixty-year break in between.
An old fortress becomes a palace
Before being a papal residence, Castel Gandolfo was a medieval fortress in the Castelli Romani, about twenty-five kilometers from Rome. Urban VIII, from the Barberini family, transformed the old rocca into a summer residence, with works directed by the architect Carlo Maderno and pictorial decorations by Simone Lagi. The following popes expanded the complex over the centuries: Alexander VII had the contribution of Bernini, and Clement XIV purchased the nearby Villa Cybo, incorporating it into the complex.
The choice of place was not accidental. The Castelli Romani were, since Antiquity, the destination of those who could get away from Rome in the heat of summer: centuries before any pope spent time there, Cicero himself wrote the Tusculan Disputations in his villa in Tusculum, in the same region, close to present-day Frascati. The papal custom of leaving the city for the summer resumes, without saying so openly, a habit that the Roman elite had already practiced for more than sixteen hundred years.
Over a lake inside a crater
The palace stands on the edge of Lake Albano, one of the volcanic lakes formed by the activity of the ancient Laziano Volcano, in the Castelli Romani region. It is the deepest volcanic lake in Italy, measuring around 168 meters deep, occupying the bottom of a crater resulting from at least five distinct explosions over thousands of years. The choice of location was not just aesthetic: the altitude and proximity to the water offered real relief from the heat of the Roman summer, before any form of artificial refrigeration.
The contrast between the violent origin of the land, formed by volcanic explosions long before any human presence in the region, and the contemplative function that it ended up receiving centuries later, as a retreat for rest and prayer, sums up well the fate of much of the Castelli Romani landscape: craters that nature opened, and that time transformed into a resting place.
Sixty years of interruption
The continuous use of Castel Gandolfo by the popes did not go through four centuries without interruption. In 1870, with the end of the Papal State and the annexation of Rome to the Kingdom of Italy, the palace remained without receiving the papal court for around sixty years. Only with the Lateran Pacts, signed in 1929 between the Holy See and the Italian State, Castel Gandolfo returned to welcoming the popes during the hot months, resuming a custom that already had three centuries of history before the break.
The Lateran Pacts also defined the special status of the place: Castel Gandolfo became part of the territory under the sovereignty of the Holy See, with the same type of extraterritoriality that applies to Vatican City, even though physically separated from it by kilometers of Castelli Romani. It is, in practice, a second papal territory outside Rome, built on a volcanic crater with centuries of history before any pope set foot there.
What has changed in recent decades
In 2016, Pope Francis opened the private apartments of Castel Gandolfo as a museum, allowing the public to visit the same palace previously reserved for the papal residence. In 2026, exactly four hundred years after Urban VIII's first stay, Pope Leo XIV retook the place as a summer residence, returning it to the function that had defined it for almost four centuries.
The return was gradual, and it did not close the palace for good. Leo XIV first stayed at Villa Barberini and, from July 2026, moved back into the Apostolic Palace. Anyone planning a visit needs to know what changed in practice: the palace is still open to visitors for most of the year, and closes to the public during the period when the pope is staying there.
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Learn about the programFrequently asked questions
Since when has Castel Gandolfo been the popes' summer residence?
Since 1626, when Pope Urban VIII spent the first period of stay of a pontiff there, transforming an old fortress into a summer residence, with works directed by the architect Carlo Maderno.
Why is Castel Gandolfo located on a volcano?
The palace stands on the edge of Lake Albano, which occupies the bottom of a crater of the ancient Laziano Volcano, now inactive. It is the deepest volcanic lake in Italy, measuring around 168 meters deep.
Did popes always use Castel Gandolfo every summer?
No. After the end of the Papal State, in 1870, the palace remained without papal use for around sixty years, until the Lateran Pacts of 1929 returned Castel Gandolfo to its function as residence.
Is Castel Gandolfo still used by popes today?
In 2016, Pope Francis opened the private apartments as a museum. In 2026, four centuries after Urban VIII's first stay, Pope Leo XIV retook Castel Gandolfo as a summer residence. The palace remains open to visitors for most of the year, and closes to the public during the period when the pope is staying there.
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