Castel Gandolfo

Castel Gandolfo
—  Comune  —
Comune di Castel Gandolfo
Castel Gandolfo and the Lake of Albano.
Castel Gandolfo Location of Castel Gandolfo in Italy
Coordinates: 41°44′N 12°39′E / 41.733°N 12.65°E / 41.733; 12.65Coordinates: 41°44′N 12°39′E / 41.733°N 12.65°E / 41.733; 12.65
Country	Italy
Region	Lazio
Province	Rome
Frazioni	Mole di Castel Gandolfo, Pavona
Government
- Mayor	Maurizio Colacchi (since May 2002)
Area
- Total	14 km2 (5.4 sq mi)
Elevation	426 m (1,398 ft)
Population
- Total	6,927
- Density	494.8/km2 (1,281.5/sq mi)
- Demonym	Castellani
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	00040
Dialing code	06
Patron saint	St. Sebastian
Saint day	January 20
Website	Official website

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Castel Gandolfo is a small Italian town and comune in Lazio that occupies a height overlooking Lake Albano about 30 km south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills. It is best known as the summer residence of the Pope.

History

Archaeological findings from the 16th century BC have been found in the area of what is now Castel Gandolfo.

The modern city occupies the site of ancient Alba Longa, capital of the Latin League. Its name is derived from a fortification of the ducal Gandolfi family (of Genoese origin, named after St. Gondolfus) in the 12th century, which passed to the Savelli family from whom the Apostolic Camera purchased it in 1596 for 150,000 scudi. Pope Clement VIII was the first pope to come to Castel Gandolfo, but the rebuilding of the old castle was the project of Urban VIII who first came in 1626.

During the Napoleonic Wars, some 900 anti-French citizens of neighboring Velletri held out in Castel Gandolfo, resisting the siege by Joachim Murat.

Main sights

• The Pope's summer residence (Residenza Papale in Italian) is a 17th century building designed by Carlo Maderno for Pope Urban VIII. The papal palace, and the adjoining Villa Barberini that was added to the complex by Pius XI have enjoyed extraterritorial rights since the signature of the 1929 treaty with Italy; the little piazza directly in front was renamed Piazza della Libertà in the first flush of Italian unity after 1870. The papal palace remained unused from 1870 until 1929. Popes Pius XII (1958) and Paul VI (1978) died at Castel Gandolfo.
• The site of the papal palace, rebuilt on the ruins of the former castle, partly occupies the foundations of a summer residence of the Emperor Domitian that occupied 14 km² (5.4 square miles). The residence was designed by the famous architect Rabirius. In the palace's inner courtyard is a Roman bust depicting Polyphemus, the Cyclops from whose cave Ulysses escaped; it was found in the nymphaeum of the Imperial villa's gardens, an artificially constructed grotto of the crater lake's outlet.
• The parish church, dedicated to St. Thomas of Villanova was designed by Bernini (1658-1661) on the order of the Chigi Pope Alexander VII. It has a square plant, and houses a notable pale by Pietro da Cortona portraying the Crucifixion of Christ.
• The two telescopes of the Vatican Observatory, which were moved from Rome to Castel Gandolfo in the 1930s, were still used until the 1980s. The headquarters of the Vatican Observatory is still located in Castel Gandolfo. However, its dependent research center, the Vatican Observatory Research Group (VORG), is hosted by Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA. The telescopes are located in Mt. Graham, Arizona.

Twin towns - Sister cities

Castel Gandolfo is twinned with:

• Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France
• Curepipe, Mauritius

See also

• Alban Hills
• Pavona

External links

• Official site
• Dr Hans-Joachim Kracht, "Historic villas overlook Lake Albano" from L'Osservatore Romano September 29, 1999
• Castel Gandolfo on Google Maps Italy

References

• Nibby, Antonio (1829). Analisi storico-topografico-antiquaria della carta de' dintorni di Roma - Castel Gandolfo, vol. I. 
• Moroni, Gaetano (1841). Venice. pp. 153-175. 
• Petrillo, Saverio (1995). I Papi a Castel Gandolfo. Velletri: Tra 8 & 9. 

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