How many acres do the Vatican Gardens occupy?

Discovering the Vatican Gardens

This space, as we mentioned earlier, is loaded with history and culture at its core. Among the spaces that overlook here, first and foremost is the magnificence of the Vatican Museums. Added to this, then, are other activities vital to the life of the Vatican State. In the northern area, in addition to the residence of Pope Francis I, we also find the Apostolic Palaces, the headquarters of L'Osservatore Romano and Vatican banks such as the IOR (Istituto per le Opere di Religione).

The importance of the Vatican Gardens in the Pope's life.

An immense garden, visitable to few tourists but available to the Pontiff and his closest aides. Since the late 1200s, the Pope used to attend here to reflect and make the most important decisions for the Catholic faith. As some Vaticanist has called this place, the Vatican Gardens are first and foremost a "place of meditation" for thinking in complete relaxation and without distraction.

A place lived for 800 years by the pope
Catholicism, in its forms, has changed over the centuries: changes, schisms, wars, clear historical choices of the Holy See in the management of its territory and especially of Rome. It is conceivable how so many initiatives that have distinguished the Catholic world over nearly a millennium of history have been conceived here, in the Vatican Gardens itself.

After all, reflection in this space launched Pope Nicholas III, who had what would become the papal residence built on what used to be the Vatican Hill. 

A place that converges meditation, prayer and nature

In the Vatican Gardens there is not only the beauty of the place, but also a reality built for the purpose of facilitating meditation. As mentioned, it was 1279 when Pope Nicholas III had his residence built. To it, under his window, he also wanted to rebuild a place of peace and one that would stand out from the climes of revolt that were souring over the territory of Rome at the time. 

He therefore had the pomerium built, or the famous orchard that distinguishes this very space within the Vatican State. Then two other important outdoor areas would be added to it: these were the pratellum (the meadow) and the viridarium (the garden). Areas where the various pontiffs who succeeded each other at the head of the Church, loved to walk and chat with their staff.

An immense garden on the Hill of Sant'Egidio

The papal promenade, in its own gardens beneath its own residence, would have taken place in the area that today refers to the Hill of Sant'Egidio. Again, over the centuries important centralities for what would become the Vatican State we know today would come into being. One thinks first of all of the Courtyards of the Vatican Museums, which see millions of tourists visiting them every year, and then a structure like the Belvedere Palace. 

The architecture of the Vatican Gardens under Bramante

The heyday of this papal space, as art history tells us, occurred at the turn of the Renaissance with Donato Bramante. The architect, operated here in the early 1500s, aiming to create a beauty unique to the known world in this area.

An artistic endeavor that called numerous immensely talented painters, architects, and sculptors to the Pope's court. Among the names we can mention are the presences of Pirro Ligorio, Antonio Tempesta, Giovanni Maggi or Giovanni Battista Falda. Personalities who, reading art books, wrote important pages of culture and the artistic heritage of our country.