Castel Gandolfo



Lake Albano, from Castel Gandolfo
 

On Monday  I took the regional train to Castel Gandolfo, a tiny town that stands high above a volcanic lake, about 25 kilometres from Rome. Due to its proximity, many Romans have villas or apartments on the shores of Lake Albano – in fact the Romans have been holidaying here since the days of the Republic.  The emperor Domitian had his imperial villa at Castel Gandolfo, and today you can explore the ruins of the villa, which lie underneath the grounds of the Pope’s summer residence.

The Pope, along with most of its residents avoiding hot and dusty Rome in August, leaves the city and spends his summer by the water at Castel Gandolfo, arriving by Papal helicopter.  The summer residence stands in the main piazza, and from the balcony the Angelus (blessing) is given every Sunday.  

On a Monday morning Castel Gandolfo is extremely quiet, just a few local people having a coffee and gossip, plus a handful of tourists.  It’s quite easy to walk the town’s narrow streets within an hour, fetching up every now and again to admire the stunning view from numerous vantage points.

The Papal summer palace

I had lunch high up, on a little terrace overlooking the lake and it was sublime.  Every now and then a sailing boat would flit across the mirror surface of the lake, but aside from this, there was very little noise.  Incredible to leave the chaos and Rome and chance on such a peaceful place.

The Claudian Aqueducts

I took the train back to Rome mid afternoon, passing the park of aqueducts close to the Appian Way. These aqueducts were completed under the Emperor Claudius in 52 AD; amazingly, as close to the city as they are, they remain in large open parklands.  From the train, they’re an arresting sight.