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.