Castel Gandolfo, the rich papal summer palace outside Rome, will now be open to visitors, starting October 21. Within the palace, the Pope’s sumptuous apartment has been turned into a museum.
Pope Francis, who has made a point of a more modest lifestyle than some recent Popes has visited the estate, which the Vatican has owned since 1596, but has never stayed there. The two previous Popes stayed there often.
When Francis became Pope, he moved into a Vatican hotel room instead of the traditional big Vatican apartment. He opened the Castel Gandolfo gardens, covering some 55 acres, to visitors in 2014. Among the attractions are an organic farm created by Pope Benedict.
