Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani 

Day 37 - Apostolic Vatican Archive bunker, Cortile della Pigna

The Apostolic Vatican Archive (once known as the Secret Archive) is located off of the Cortile del Belvedere, next to the Vatican Library. In operation since 1612, the archive holds many of the documents related to the various popes and official acts of the Holy See.

As you can imagine, the collection built up over time. More space was needed to hold the archive, ideally space that met modern archival standards rather than something built in the 17th century. To that end Paul VI ordered the construction of two vaults to hold archived material, which were inaugurated by John Paul II in 1980.

As you might have guessed from the word 'bunker,' this is one building that you are not going to see in the Vatican skyline. Instead, it is located below the courtyard between the Vatican Museums and the library, named for the second century AD bronze pine cone that stands in it. The bunker has a volume of over a million cubic feet, and has (if I did the conversion right) over 26 linear miles of shelf space (the website says 43,000 meters if you want to do the math).