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).