- On 11/19/2024
- In curiosity
- Tags: Castel Gandolfo, Vatican Museums
CASTEL GANDOLFO, A NEW EXCLUSIVE EXPERIENCE AT THE VATICAN OBSERVATORY
The Vatican Observatory, or Specola Vaticana, is a scientific research institute directly dependent on the Holy See. Its origins date back to the end of the 16th century, when in 1578 Pope Gregory XIII established a commission in which a predominant role was played by Fr. Cristoforo Clavio S.J., an astronomer and mathematician Jesuit of the Roman College, to prepare the reform to modify the calendar from the Julian to the Gregorian one, promulgated in 1582. The Specola operated inside the Vatican State in Rome City Center for just over 40 years, but in the early 1930s, the rise of electric lights and the urban growth of the Capital made the sky of Rome so bright that astronomers could not study the fainter stars. For this reason, Pope Pius XI ordered the Observatory to be moved to his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo.
Today the Specola is available to welcome visitors and tourists thanks to a renewed and rich proposal of Guided Tours developed in collaboration with the Vatican Museums. The rooms of the Pontifical Villas – whose gardens and Apostolic Palace can already be visited – become even more accessible and usable, Integrating and extending the routes of the visit to the museum spaces of the Visitor Center of the Specola Vaticana and its evocative Barberini’s Dome, home of the historic telescopes Schmidt and Carte du Ciel, the latter recently restored and currently working.
1 City Tour will let you enjoy the Vatican Observatory at its best also with an exclusive option to have a tailor-made Private Visit. Let’s find out this hidden gem of Rome’s history, thanks to a special collaboration with the Vatican Museums.
Source: Vatican Museums
THE EXPERIENCE IN A NUTSHELL
The Castel Gandolfo’s experience is a truly unique and one-in-a-lifetime occasion to see this special place at its best. The cooperation between 1 City Tour and the Vatican Museum is the right option to visit the Secrets Rooms of the Papal Summer Residence, a one-of-a-kind museum that has been open since Pope Francis’s settlement. It is not clear if it will remain a Museum in the future, but at the moment a visit to the Observatory and the Residence is possible and is a remarkable experience, as in Claudia and Debora’s words: “I took the visit of the Vatican Observatory and the Secret Rooms of the Papal Summer Residence and I was astonished. Other than the beauty of the exhibition inside the rooms, there are several panoramic views from astonishing terraces where you can enjoy the Albano Lake at its best. You can feel the singularity of this experience, something you can miss if the next Pope decides to return to his Residence. It is so brilliant to discover the secrets of those rooms, where a million stories have been told, but at the same time, you feel welcomed thanks to the warm and domestic atmosphere of this place, which has been thought of as an apartment. Don’t be fooled by the modest look, there are still a lot of precious marble, frescos, and incredible works of art. Finally, I was captivated by the emphasis on culture and science that the Vatican Observatory can give: its significant and majestic Dome, which has two siblings in the USA, brings back scholars to the old-fashioned way of studying the Universe in an analogic way. In fact, there are no computers and students who came here for the Summer Camp can study from hand measurements and photos of the stars which have a focal length of 48 hours. I would suggest this experience, it really broadens my horizons and my knowledge of one of Rome’s finest hidden gems!”
PHOTOGALLERY
The Pope’s chef (called “Chef 7 Soups”), who historians think “cooked like a dog”, has the face towards the Holy Father, while the dog on the left side of this painting has the cook’s face. Inception or pun intended? Actually, this kind of painting is called “anthropomorphic portrait”, or when animals and objects resemble human beings.
