Stories, reporting, long reads.
The Borgo Laudato Si'
Fifty-five hectares of the Papal Villas turned into a centre for integral ecology. What is done, what is seen, how to book.
Climbing Monte Cavo
949 metres, the original paving of the Via Sacra to the temple of Latin Jupiter. The most iconic hike in the Castelli Romani.
The crater's microclimate
Four hundred metres above Rome, a lake 170 metres deep, ventilated summers and shady woods. The science behind the coolness of the papal village.
10 February 1944
More than five hundred civilian victims in one morning. The most painful page of the war at Castel Gandolfo, and the response of the Papal Villas.
Bernini's church
San Tommaso da Villanova, consecrated in 1661 for Alexander VII. Greek cross plan, ribbed dome, stuccowork by Antonio Raggi.
October and the chestnuts
Marino, Colonna, Rocca di Papa: the confirmed 2026 dates of the autumn festivals in the Castelli Romani.
The Papal Villas little train
Fifty-five hectares in an hour. Price, times, booking, what you actually see.
1596 — the fief lost for a debt
How the Savelli lost Castel Gandolfo. 150,000 scudi of debt, the bull known as Congregation of the Barons of Clement VIII, and the 1604 decree that made the village an inalienable asset of the Holy See.
Villa Barberini
The villa Taddeo Barberini built in 1631 over the ruins of the Albanum Domitiani. 55 hectares, imperial cryptoporticus, Italian formal gardens. Now the residence of Pope Leo XIV.
Ferragosto on the lake
Free beaches, historic lidos, opening hours, indicative 2026 prices and the rules of the bathing ordinance. Where to spend 15 August on Lake Albano.
The 90th Peach Festival
From 20 to 26 July 2026 the village celebrated the ninetieth edition. Seven days across the Lakeside, the Old Town, Le Mole, Laghetto, Pavona and San Paolo. Chronicle, growers, the blessing of the peaches.
The Roman emissary of 398 BC
About 1,450 metres carved by hand through volcanic tuff, 1.20 m wide and 2 m high, with a gradient of 0.14 per thousand. A 2,400-year-old tunnel that still works.
The Vatican Observatory
Four white domes above the Papal Palace, a 1935 Zeiss refractor, Martian meteorites and a second telescope in Arizona. The history of the Popes' observatory.
What to do in September
Fewer tourists, golden light, the lake still swimmable, patronal feasts and the first chestnuts of the Castelli. Why September is the perfect time to visit Castel Gandolfo.
Angelus Sundays
How, where and when to see Pope Leo XIV on the balcony of the Apostolic Palace. The 2026 calendar with times, access and practical advice for 15 August.
Domitian's cryptoporticus
Three hundred metres of imperial tunnel carved in the 1st century. Two thousand years later, its interior temperature is still a constant fifteen degrees. The climate engineering of a paranoid emperor.
The return of the Pope to Castel Gandolfo
On 5 July 2026, after twelve years of silence, Leo XIV walked through the great door of the Apostolic Palace. A report from the day that gave the town its identity back.
The lake that does not die
What happens below the 168 metres of Lake Albano. How it was born, how it breathes, why it sometimes exhales carbon dioxide. A journey into the geology of the Colli Albani caldera.
The peaches that charmed the Popes
Ninety years of the festival, four hundred years of cultivation. The story of the Castel Gandolfo peach, from the pontifical gardens to the contemporary table.