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.

 Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 22: Greenhouses, Viale San Marco

I didn't find much information about the greenhouses (or maybe just greenhouse?) at the Vatican, other than that they (it?) exist(s). I assume it's helpful in both preparing plants for the gardens and providing the various sacramental and living spaces with flora. There is a lot more out there about the greenhouse and other facilities at Castel Gandolfo, the pope's summer residence, which now houses a training center for ecologically-focused agriculture.

Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 21: Pinacoteca, Viale della Zitella

For centuries, as popes acquired paintings, they would be displayed in various places around the Apostolic Palace. It wasn't until the 20th century that the collection was given a proper home, as Piux XI called on old friend Luca Beltrami (who had been given a number of other Vatican commissions) to create the Pinacoteca. It opened in 1932, the year before Beltrami died.

The museum has a collection of about 460 works, mostly Italian. The artists represented in the collection run from Giotto to Leonardo to Raphael to Caravaggio. 

 Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 20: Casina del Giardiniere, Rampa dell'Archeologia

The gardener's lodge is located (not surprisingly) in the Vatican Gardens, located just behind St. Peter's and near the St. Peter memorial. There's not a lot of information about the lodge online, other than it's the home of the Vatican's head gardener. I did find a mention that it was built in the 12th century, and from the pictures I could find I don't doubt it. 

It's not open to the public, which isn't surprising as it's someone's house. You do see it on some of the garden tours, hopefully those folks have more information about the building than what's on Google.

 Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 19: Torre Gregoriana

The Gregorian Tower, also known as the Tower of the Winds, is unique in that it's a building built on top of other buildings. Constructed between 1578 and 1580, the two-story tower in on top of the Gallery of Maps that is part of the Vatican Museum. It served as an observatory, as the planned Gregorian calendar reform would involve a number of astronomical observations.

Outside of a period in the 19th century, the tower (now actually two towers) has served as an observatory, though is now more of an historical site. It also features some 16th century Flemish frescoes, and was once the residence of Queen Charlotte of Sweden after she converted to Catholicism.