Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 8 - Paul VI Audience Hall

Designed by Pier Luigi Nervi, the hall opened in 1971 as a space for audiences and conferences. In bad weather it can also serve as the location for the pope's weekly Wednesday morning general audience.

The interior of the hall is dominated by The Resurrection, an 80 ton bronze and brass sculpture that apparently depicts Jesus rising from the Garden of Gethsemane, out of a crater created by a nuclear bomb (the threat of nuclear war being much more palpable in the 1970s than it is today). The sculpture is the backdrop to whomever is speaking, and is a bit of an acquired taste. 

In addition to the main hall, there is also a smaller hall (the New Synod Hall) located above the vestibule of the main hall. In 2008 the building won a European Solar Prize for the installation of a solar energy system on its roof that provides all of the power for the building's systems.

The hall itself sits on land donated to the Vatican by the Knight of Columbus. Most of the land is actually in Rome, with a smaller portion within the boundaries of the Vatican (the rostrum where the pope sits is on Vatican land, which makes sense). 

  Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 7 - Chiaramonti Museum

Housed in a loggia connecting the Palace of the Belvedere to the Vatican Palace is this museum, named for Pope Pius VII (Chiaramonti was his pre-papal surname). It is part of the Vatican Museums, others of which will show up here eventually.

In the 1797 Treaty of Tolentino, the Vatican had to cede a large part of its art holdings to France. To make up for the loss, local antiquaries and archaeologists working in the Papal States helped to amass a new collection, which took up residence in this museum upon its 1806 opening. The sculptor Antonio Canova took on a leading role in developing the museum and its collection, focusing on what he saw as the "three sister arts" of sculpture, architecture, and fresco.

The museum boasts over 1000 works of ancient sculpture. The new wing features the Augustus of Prima Porta, a full-length sculpture of the Roman emperor found during excavations on the site of his third (and last) wife's villa. The museum is also noted for the Galleria Lapidaria, a collection of several thousand stone tablets and inscriptions, which is generally only accessible by researchers.

 Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 6 - Annona Vatican City, Via del Telegrafo

You may not be surprised that the Vatican has a supermarket - hey, a pope's gotta eat - but this particular market has a uniquely Vatican past.

In 1588, Pope Sixtus V created fifteen permanent congregations in the Vatican. One was the Congregation for the Abundance of the Papal States, whose five cardinals were charged with the provision of foodstuffs for the Vatican and its territories. It was modeled on the Prefect of the Annona, created by Augustus in 7 BC.

This article details some of the changes to the congregation over the years, including the creation of the supermarket after the Vatican became an independent state. The current building, recently renovated, was built in 1931 by old friend Giuseppe Momo.  The market was closed for the renovation, and since reopening is known as Tigre-Annona, reflecting the first-even private management of the store.

One thing that may not have changed in the renovation is who gets to shop. Historically, a pass issued to Vatican employees and clerical personnel was required to shop here. This was likely due to the shop not charging any tax on goods, making some items up to a third cheaper than if bought in Rome.

Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 5 - Palace of the Governate, Via Paolo 29

This palace is the home to the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, which is the legislative body of the Vatican. Who is with me in just learning that the Vatican has a legislature?

It is, not surprisingly, very different from your typical legislature. The legislature is made up of a president and six cardinals, all of whom are appointed to five year terms by the pope. The president is also the de facto head of government, akin to the president's role in a parliamentary system. Up until the current pope the president was also a cardinal, but Leo rewrote the terms of office to allow for non-cardinals to serve as president, and then went and made Sister Raffaella Petrini the president. She is, needless to say, the first woman to hold the position.

Any legislation passed by the commission gets passed to the pope via the Secretariat of State prior to being made public. 

The commission oversees a variety of offices, from the post office to the tourism board to the department of economic services. How much overseeing they actually do I don't know.

As for the actual building, it appears to have been purpose-built for the commission during the late 1920s and early '30s. The architect, Giuseppe Momo, is best known for the spiral staircase in the Vatican Museums.

 Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 4 - Mater Ecclesiae Monastery

Yet another building inside the Vatican Gardens - makes one wonder if there's any room for plants - this monastery (named for one of Mary's titles, "Mother of the Church") was established around 1990 by Pope John Paul II. It doesn't have a permanent group of residents, but it used by groups of cloistered nuns, who pray specifically for the health of the pope. Which might explain why JP2 lived so long (but not his health issues, go figure).

The building replaced an outpost of the Vatican police, and is set up in a typical monastic style. It does abut a fruit and vegetable garden, and is near the Fountain of the Eagle, built by Paul V in the 16th century.

Orders are invited to stay for a period of five years, although that schedule was cut short by the abdication of Benedict XVI, when the monastery was used as his residence. After his passing Francis invited an order from (surprise) Argentina. If things get back on track they'll be there until 2029. 

Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 3 - Casina Pio IV

Proving it's better to be around at the end than at the beginning, this building was actually started by Pope Paul IV in 1558. A single story building located in the Vatican Gardens called the Casina del Boschetto, its original purpose isn't clear, especially as Paul died the following year.

Pius IV took over the project and made improvements to the original design, including a definite glow up of its aesthetics. In addition to sculptural stucco work on the facade, the building was ornamented with 50 or so ancient Roman statues, while the interior received frescos on various topics (such as baptism and the primacy of the papacy) from a team of Italian artists. While Charles Borromeo hoped it would house an academy he was founding, it became a papal residence and was named after Pius.

Whatever residential prospects it had didn't last, as the building is now home to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, and the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas (whose tenancy is apparently temporary). 

  Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 2: Pontifical Ethiopian College

The Pontifical Colleges in Rome are seminaries typically set up to train students from specific countries or regions to become priests (or, in some cases, train seminarians to become priests in the namesake country or region). These colleges are located wholly within Rome or in Rome but adjacent to the Vatican. With one exception.

The Ethiopian College, while established in 1919, has roots going back to the late 15th century. A group of Ethiopian monks made a pilgrimage to Rome and established enough of a community that Pope Sixtus IV gave the monks the use of St. Stephen of the Abyssinians chapel and another outlying building. The monks formed a monastery, which became a center for both seminary education and Ethiopian studies.

Pope Pius XI ordered the building of the current college in 1929, placing the building on he grounds of the Vatican Gardens.