The bakery in Rome that has been supplying bread for the Pope’s table since 1930 has shut its doors, apparently a victim of mass tourism and changes in its neighborhood.
Panificio Arrigoni owner Angelo Arrigoni told press that “We turned the oven off on Tuesday” at the bakery founded by his father, who used to hand deliver bread to the household of then-Pope Pius XI. Arrigoni says “The district has changed; all the houses that used to be full of people have become rentals for tourists.”
Arrigoni catered to the different tastes of each succeeding Pope, including John Paul II who “said he wanted the bread his workers ate” and Benedict XVI. Arrigoni said that when Benedict was elected, a household official told him that the new Pope would instead be sticking with the bakery he patronized as a cardinal. Arrigoni told her: “But I am that baker!”
