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. 

Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 18: Residence of the Arch-Priest, Piazza Santa Marta

Located next to San Carlo, the residence is the home of the arch-priest of St. Peter's Basilica. This appears to be a largely honorary position, though it does seem like the current arch-priest, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, does have a fairly public role with regards to St. Peter's. He is, however, also the president of the Fabric of St. Peter, the organization responsible for the conservation and maintenance of the basilica, which seems like a job that would require some public face time.

As far as the residence goes, I can't really find anything about it online other than where it's located, just on the corner of St. Marta's Square. I did find one page stating that the residence also has offices for those who work in St. Peter's, like vicars, canons, etc.  

 Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 17: Torre San Giovanni

Saint John's Tower was built by Pope Nicholas III in the 13th century, likely as part of improved fortifications. It fell into disuse by the 16th century, and wasn't used for much until Pope John XXIII rebuilt it in the early 1960s.

That rebuild created papal apartments for use when the apartments in the Apostolic Palace are being renovated or otherwise unavailable. It occasionally also gets use for other non-popes, and has on at least one occasion served as the reception area for a US presidential visit (Benedict XVI welcomed George W. Bush to the Vatican in the tower when he visited in 2008).

Pope Francis gave the tower a more official purpose when he made it the seat of the new Secretariat for the Economy, which he created in 2014. The secretariat covers all financial and economic matters of the Vatican, as well as its human resources department.

Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 16: Palazzo San Carlo, Piazza Santa Marta

The Palazzo San Carlo was built in 1932 on the site of the Hospital of the Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo (who gives it his name) and was designed by, you guessed it, Giuseppe Momo. It serves as both a residential and office building.

Among its tenants are the Supervisory and Financial Information Authority, set up by Pope Benedict in 2010. This financial intelligence unit seeks to prevent or fight against counterfeiting, money laundering, or the financing of weapons of mass destruction. I don't know how often the Vatican winds up involved in financing the purchase of weapons grade uranium, but I'm glad someone's keeping an eye out.

The building is also the headquarters of the Association of Vatican Lay Workers, which is more or less a union for non-clerical employees of the Vatican. The roots of its founding go back to 1979, but the group was formally recognized by the Vatican in 1993 - after it led a strike in 1988 for improved working conditions and a campaign of mass resignations in 1992 to get pensions.

Among its more notable residents is Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, a former Secretary of State and camerlengo who served as head of state between Benedict's abdication and the election of Pope Francis. Already one to draw attention to himself, he came under fire for the renovation of two apartments in San Carlo to form one large penthouse for himself and his staff. While he claimed he paid for the renovations himself, it was later discovered that funds from the Bambino Gesu Hospital were used, with the idea that the apartment would be used several times during the year to entertain and meet with potential hospital donors.

Care to guess how many of those meetings took place?

Two hospital executives were tried for diverting funds to the renovation, but only one was convicted, and then of a lesser crime.

Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 15 - Farmacia Vaticana

Located within the Belvedere Palace (which we'll get to), the Vatican pharmacy was founded in 1874, when the Vatican's Secretary of State charged a monk of the Brothers Hospitaliers of St. John of God to supply medicines for the pope and resident cardinals. They'd been stuck in the Vatican since 1870, thanks to a dispute over the annexation of Rome to the Kingdom of Italy.

While it started as a medicinal storeroom, it expanded into what we would recognize as a pharmacy in 1892, and would move to its current location in 1929 after the signing of the Lateran Treaty. 

It's often said that the Vatican pharmacy is the busiest one in the world, serving an estimated 2000 customers per day. It's open to anyone who is on the Vatican's health plan, and people not on that plan can apply for a permit to use the pharmacy. The bureaucracy is worth it, though, as the lack of regulations applying to the pharmacy means it can stock medications not approved in Italy. As the Vatican also has no taxes, purchases are duty free.

What you won't find at the pharmacy, though, is anything contrary to Catholic social teaching, so no contraceptives or related sexual health medication. It also doesn't carry medicinal marijuana products or traditional Chinese medicines, for reasons I'm assuming aren't Catholic social teaching-related. They also sell some health and beauty products, prompting this review of their line of perfumes. 

 Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 14 - Torre del Gallinari

Also known as the Gallinarium tower or the Gallinaro Tower, there's not a lot of information out there about this tower, which is found in the Vatican Gardens in the northeast of the city state. It was apparently built for Pope Innocent VIII in the 15th century during work done to walls and other structures to the north of the Apostolic Palaces.

Pius XI used it as a botanical "garden," but I'm not sure what that means as the best source I could find on the tower is in Italian, and I'm working off of an English abstract. The abstract does note that the tower isn't listed in contemporaneous sources, and is hard to pick out in representations of the walls from the period.  So the lack of easy information in English is not surprising.

You'll see the tower in the Vatican Gardens today, and it does feature among some of the public tours.

Lentorama 2026: Hic es: aedificia Vaticani

Day 13: Vatican Publishing House, Via della Posta

Sixtus V founded the Vatican Publishing House in 1587, and for centuries it included both a press and a bookstore. That bookstore was spun off into its own entity in 1926 by Piux XI, and became a publishing house charged with the production and sales of books printed by the publishing house. 

The house mostly handled official documents and publications of the Vatican, but would later move into publishing works by popes. It turns out that the house holds the copyright to all papal writings, but didn't enforce the copyright until Benedict XVI took office. They stated that the copyright is only enforced in cases where a text no more than 50 years old is republished without citing the Vatican copyright.

In 2015 Francis announced the formation of a Secretariat of Communication, and the house (along with the press) was moved under its umbrella.