Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 29: Barracks of the Papal Gendarmerie

Unlike the Swiss Guard, who were founded for the personal protection of the Pope, the Papal Gendarmerie were founded in the early 19th century to ensure public safety in the Papal States. After Italy conquered the states as part of unification, the gendarmerie shifted to providing the same services for the Vatican. This became their official role after the Lateran Treaty, and they transitioned to being fully focused on Vatican security under Paul IV.  This page goes into greater depth about the role of the gendarmerie today (including its band!) and the qualifications to join.

There is not a lot of information online about the gendarmerie barracks, which is located near the Church of San Pellegrino and the Vatican print media offices. It does not appear that anyone is looking to replace the building. The barracks does house an historical armory, which includes a number of bombards, cannon, and muskets.

 Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 28: Barracks of the Swiss Guard

The Swiss Guard was founded in 1506 with a simple mission - protect the life of the Pope at all costs. That mission hasn't really changed since then, in much the same way as their uniform and most notable weaponry are still rooted in the Renaissance. While they largely perform ceremonial functions today, the guard still protects the Pope and the Vatican, and is one of the oldest military units in continuous operation.

They are housed in a barracks located just to the left of St. Anne's Gate (as you enter the Vatican), a complex built in the 19th century. Two buildings house unmarried guardsmen and the canteen, while a third building holds their offices and lodgings for married guards (guards have to be single when they join, but can marry during their service). 

Unfortunately, the complex hasn't had much work done to it since it was built, and is not in the best of shape. It is also too small to house all of the guards, a number of whom live in Rome. In order to remedy these problems, a Swiss foundation was formed to renovate the barracks, which will involve an almost complete teardown of the existing structures. This website from the foundation behind the rebuild includes some renderings and other information about the project. 

Just don't expect to see it in person any time soon. As this story notes, the cost of the project has ballooned from its original 45 million Swiss francs to at least 70 million, and is now not expected to be completed until 2029 at the earliest.

Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 27: Radio Vaticana, Via A. Canal

Vatican Radio started broadcasting in 1931, thanks to the help of local radio enthusiast Guglielmo Marconi. Service grew during the 1930s and 1940s (when it maintained broadcasting independence during World War II), and in the 1950s opened a transmission and broadcasting center at Santa Maria di Galeria, an extraterritorial property of the Vatican about 10 kilometers north of Rome.

In 1950 it also became one of the founding members of the European Broadcasting Union, of which it is still a member. Meaning that the Vatican could, it it wanted to, participate in the Eurovision Song Contest.

The station broadcast content to all corners of the globe, carrying news and programming related to the Vatican and the Catholic faith. More recently, Vatican Radio moved into online spaces, from livestreams to podcasts to its own YouTube channel. This saw a related reduction in traditional radio services, aimed at both reducing redundancies in service and saving money. The station is estimated to lose between 20 and 30 million Euro a year, even with the backing of the church and the introduction of advertising on some broadcasts.

The station has also dabbled in TV, with current programming available through a satellite channel.

Now part of the Secretariat of Communications, this building located in the Vatican Gardens houses administrative offices and a small museum.

 Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 26: Cappella di Santa Maria Regina della Famiglia

The Church of St. Mary Queen of the Family is part of the Governor's Palace complex. I've seen it referred to as being in the palace, but the maps and photos I've been looking at do make me think that the description of the palace as individual buildings later connected is correct. There's not a ton of information out there about the church, but it looks to have been built at the same time as the rest of the palace complex by our favorite Vatican architect and builder, Giuseppe Momo.

About the only other thing I can find about the church is that Pope Francis attended the funeral there of his personal physician, who passed away in 2021. 

Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 25: Chiesa di Santo Stefano degli Abissini, Via delle Fondamenta

The Church of St. Stephen of the Abyssinians is the national church of Ethiopia at the Vatican. Tucked in behind St. Peter's, it survived the destruction of the original basilica, and is the oldest surviving church in Vatican City.

The church was built in the early 5th century by Pope Leo I, and was named for Stephen the Protomartyr, a deacon mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles who was stoned to death in Jerusalem for blasphemy. When the Vatican started to see increased numbers of pilgrims from Ethiopia, it gave that community this church for a center of worship, along with a nearby monastery. The monastery would eventually be replaced by the Ethiopian College, but the church remained.

While not generally open to the public, it is sometimes used for special occasions outside of its role with the Ethiopian community. Most notable in that regard was the 2006 wedding of Lord Nicholas Windsor to  Paola Louise Marcia Doimi de Lupis, which marked the first Catholic marriage of a member of Britain's royal family (Windsor is the son of the Duke of Kent and a godson of Charles III) since the 16th century.

 Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 24: Torre Niccolo V, Via di Belvedere

When Nicholas V became pope in 1397, one of the first things he did was start to rebuild Rome, which included improvements to the city fortifications. This tower, just off of the Gate of St. Anne, was part of his building program. 

Now part of the Apostolic Palace complex, it now serves as the headquarters of the Institute of the Works of Religion, better known as the Vatican Bank. The bank was formed in 1942 by Pius XII, merging other bodies related to finance and the charitable working of the church. It doesn't operate as a private bank or a central bank, but as of 2014 is described as providing "specialized financial services to the Catholic Church worldwide."

Historically, some of those "specialized financial services" went to groups outside of the church, such as the Mafia, a Masonic lodge called P2, and the CIA (some of these connections are proven, other still alleged). The bank also was involved in a couple of notable bank collapses in the 1970s and 1980s, bringing increased scandal and financial losses to the Vatican.

Things did not particularly improve as the bank moved into the 21st century, as it regularly fought off charges of fraud and money laundering for some of its activities. Attempts at significant reform finally started in 2010, with the Vatican entering into a monetary agreement with the EU and the establishment of a financial watchdog, the Financial Intelligence Authority. The bank also had increased compliance and transparency requirements put on it, and is now required to publish an annual report. This all seems to have helped, as it's been a few years since the last notable bank scandal, but we'll see what the future holds.

Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 23: Statzione Vaticana

This is the dedicated terminal for the Vatican Railway, which at 300 meters is the shortest national railway in the world. The railway was established to connect the Vatican to the Italian rail system by a connection at the Roma San Pietro station. 

Rail access to and from the Vatican was guaranteed in the Lateran Treaty of 1929, and Pope Piux XI started construction of the railway and station shortly after ratification. 

The station was designed by - surprise! - Giuseppe Momo, and opened in 1933. It does not get a lot of use, mostly for freight and the occasional trip out to Castel Gandolfo. Pope Francis opened the rail line to the public so that tour groups to Gandolfo could take the train out there, but as far as I can tell there's no regular service. It's also not clear to me if the station is open to the public generally, or if there is actually a stamp and coin museum there. I think the Vatican is missing an opportunity to get train geeks to visit.