Castel Gandolfo

Castel Gandolfo is commonly known as the Pope’s City, as it houses the Pope’s summer residence. It is a holiday resort located at the top of Lake Albano and is frequented by tourists from all over the world who appreciate the location, the panorama, the exquisite hospitality and the refined beauty.

The first pope to spend his holidays in the palace was Urban VIII, in May 1626. Archival documents state that he left Rome as some blank cannon fired at his departure. It was he who decided that the pope’s holidays should be spent “at the castle” and made the Palace itself “Apostolic”.

Built around the year 1000 by the Gandolfi family, in 1200 it was sold to Cardinal Giacomo Savelli who in 1285 ascended to the throne of Peter choosing the name of Honorius IV. In 1500 the Apostolic Chamber expropriated the entire building from the Savellis due to their huge debts. Since then, apart from the period from the end of the Papal State (1870) to the signing of the Lateran Pacts (1929), it has been owned by the Vatican.

After 1929, Pius XI carried out important consolidation and renovation works on the Palace to adapt it to new needs and to establish connections between the three parks on the premises: the Giardino del Moro, Villa Cybo and Villa Barberini. In 1934, the pope also transferred the Vatican Astronomical Observatory, entrusted to the astronomers of the Jesuit Order, from Vatican City to Castel Gandolfo, as the city and its surroundings lacked the darkness of the night sky necessary for celestial observations and study. From here, in 1932, Guglielmo Marconi made the first live radiotelephone connection with microwave technology from the observatory to Vatican City.

Borgo Laudato Si’ includes 55 hectares of extraterritorial area, divided into 35 hectares of magnificent gardens and 20 hectares of agricultural and farming land, greenhouses and service buildings that the Borgo is committed to preserving and developing with loving care, by also adding to the investment on education the essential commitment to foster the culture of care (cfr. Message for the LV World Day of Peace).

Regarding the gardens area, the Borgo is entrusted with their preservation, maintenance, care, and at the same time development, by also applying new techniques and technological innovations to better protect the wealth of the place and preserve its integrity for future generations.

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On 5 Sept 2025, Pope Leo XIV opened and blessed Borgo Laudato Si’

INAUGURATION AND BLESSING OF THE BORGO LAUDATO SI’
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
Borgo Laudato si’ (Castel Gandolfo)
Friday, 5 September 2025

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Dear brothers and sisters,

In the text of the Gospel of Matthew that we have just heard, Jesus addresses several teachings to his disciples. I would like to look at one of these, which seems particularly suited to this celebration. It says: “Look at the birds of the air … Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow” (Mt 6: 26, 28).

It is not rare for the Master of Nazareth to refer to nature in his teachings. Flora and fauna are often protagonists in his parables. But in this case, there is a clear invitation to observation and contemplation of creation, actions aimed at understanding the Creator’s original plan.

Everything has been wisely ordered from the beginning, so that all the creatures contribute to the realization of the Kingdom of God. Every creature has an important and specific role in his plan, and each one is “good”, as the Book of Genesis emphasizes (cf. Gen 1:1-29).

In the same Gospel passage, referring to the birds and the lilies, Jesus poses two questions to his disciples: “Are you not of more value than they?”, and then “If God so clothes the grass of the field … will he not much more clothe you?” (Mt 6:30).

Almost as if implicitly referring back to the account of Genesis, Jesus highlights the special place reserved, in the act of creation, to the human being: the most beautiful creature, made in the image and semblance of God. But this privilege comes with a great responsibility: that of caring for all the other creatures, in accordance with the Creator’s plan (cf. Gen 2:15).

Care for creation therefore represents a true vocation for every human being, a commitment to be fulfilled within creation itself, without ever forgetting that we are creatures among creatures, and not creators. For this reason, it is important, as my Predecessor wrote, to “recover a serene harmony with creation, reflecting on our lifestyle and our ideals, and contemplating the Creator who lives among us and surrounds us” (Encyclical Letter Laudato si’, 225).

The Borgo Laudato si’, which we inaugurate today, is one of the Church’s initiatives aimed at fulfilling this “vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork” (Encyclical Letter Laudato si’, 217); a demanding but beautiful task, which constitutes a primary aspect of the Christian experience.

The Borgo Laudato si’ is a seed of hope, which Pope Francis left to us as a legacy, a “seed that promises to bear fruits of justice and peace” (Message for the Tenth World Day of Prayer for the care of creation). And it will do so by remaining faithful to its mandate of being a tangible model of thought, structure and action, able to promote ecological conversion through education and catechesis.

What we see today is a synthesis of extraordinary beauty, where spirituality, nature, history, art, work and technology intend to co-exist in harmony. And this is ultimately the idea of the “Borgo”, the “village”, a place of closeness and convivial proximity.

And all this cannot fail to speak to us of God.