Built on the lip of a long-dormant volcano about 15 miles south of
Rome, this little town is usually known for being sleepy and quaint, but
its newest resident — a former pope — is drawing attention around the
world.It was in Castel Gandolfo that Pope Benedict XVI — now pontiff emeritus — was transformed from the spiritual leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics into the first living former pope in nearly 600 years.
The town's residents and visitors say they are taking Benedict's presence in stride, honored by his decision to spend the start of his retirement with them.
But they're not overly eager to speculate about the recent series of Vatican scandals, which some believe may have precipitated the pontiff's decision to abdicate.
"People here are private," said Gianluca Pignatello, a 47-year-old machine operator from Rome who has visited Castel Gandolfo regularly since he was a child. "They don't like to talk about the private business of the other residents, even if one of the other residents used to be the pope."
Benedict's arrival on Thursday was the biggest event in Castel Gandolfo since popes Pius XII and Paul VI died in the city 20 years apart, in 1958 and 1978, respectively.
With less than three hours left in his papacy, Benedict boarded an Italian military helicopter inside the Vatican walls and made the 17-minute flight to the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo.
There, at precisely 8 p.m. local time Thursday, with the bells of the town's churches clanging and a crowd filling the main plaza, the Swiss Guards closed the palace's doors and withdrew the papal banner, indicating the pope was no longer in the building.
The local residents in this town of 6,000 have been accustomed to papal visits since Pope Urban VIII escaped the heat of Rome to spend the summer of 1628 there.
The town's connection with the papacy is long and varied. Castel Gandolfo was modernized before many other towns in the area, benefiting from major Vatican investments in infrastructure in the 17th and 18th centuries, especially under two previous popes: Benedict XIII, from 1724 to 1730, and Benedict XIV, from 1740 to 1758.
In 1822, the papacy established Italy's postal service, placing the country's first mailbox in the town square.
And in 1944, Pius XII famously protected the city from bombings after Allied troops landed in Anzio, south of Rome, allowing area residents to seek protection in the papal gardens.
In anticipation of Benedict's arrival Thursday, the city's parking lot was filled with television crews that came to record the final moments of his papacy.
Banners of encouragement for Benedict were hung on buildings near the apostolic palace for him to see, and the town's restaurants were full, something that typically happens only in the summer months.
On Benedict's first weekend as former pope, a handful of television crews remained, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pontiff emeritus peering out a window, but with no luck so far.
Meanwhile, locals said the number of curious visitors to town was far greater than it would be otherwise this time of year.
"Normally, the first big crowds come after Easter," said Anna Maria Vici Torrigiani, a painter of religious icons in town whose shop presented one of them, set in Castel Gandolfo, to Benedict last year. "It's as if Easter came early this year."
Benedict did not visit Castel Gandolfo as often as his predecessor Pope John Paul II. But the locals say Benedict still loves the town, where a sign quoting the pope hangs in the main square: "Here I have everything. The mountains, a lake, and a view of the sea … and good people."
"It's pleasing to me that he is here with us, but it's also sad," said Fabio Cristofari, 50, a government worker who commutes from Castel Gandolfo to Rome. "It's sad to know he doesn't feel his health allows him to do his job. It will be sad in church on Sundays, when we normally pray for the pope, that his name will no longer be mentioned."
Gianfranco Cinelli, a retired technician and poet born in Castel Gandolfo, says he understands the pope's decision to step down.
"Every man has a right to do what he believes is the right thing to do," said the 66-year-old Cinelli. "He's a good man, and if he can no longer physically force himself to do the work he was called to do, there's nothing better for him than to spend a little time in Castel Gandolfo."