{"id":25329,"date":"2026-05-05T17:17:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/?p=25329"},"modified":"2026-05-05T17:35:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:35:02","slug":"where-does-the-pope-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/art-culture\/where-does-the-pope-live","title":{"rendered":"Where Does The Pope Live? Discover The Place The Pope Calls Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have you ever wondered: Where does the pope live? <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The answer is a bit more complicated than it might seem. In nearly 2,000 years of the papacy, there have been 267 popes, and not all of them have lived in the same place. Not all of them have lived in Vatican City or in Rome or even in Italy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vatican City is just over 100 acres, making it the smallest nation on the planet. But it also happens to be utterly packed with history. Before you set foot on Vatican soil, perhaps on your quest to answer the questions: where does the pope live? Consider booking a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/vatican-tours\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">small-group guided Vatican tour<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, so that a local expert can give you the inside information on all that is to know about this diminutive nation, steeped in history and mystery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_12132\" style=\"width: 2058px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12132\" class=\"wp-image-12132 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/St.-Peters-Square-Vatican-City-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/St.-Peters-Square-Vatican-City-scaled.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/St.-Peters-Square-Vatican-City-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/St.-Peters-Square-Vatican-City-1536x1020.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-12132\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The City Scape view of the Saint Peter&#8217;s square in Vatican city.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_80 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/art-culture\/where-does-the-pope-live\/#Where_does_the_pope_live_now\" >Where does the pope live now?\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/art-culture\/where-does-the-pope-live\/#Where_does_the_pope_live_in_the_summer\" >Where does the pope live in the summer?\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/art-culture\/where-does-the-pope-live\/#Where_else_have_the_popes_lived\" >Where else have the popes lived?\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/art-culture\/where-does-the-pope-live\/#Tips_for_visiting_the_Vatican\" >Tips for visiting the Vatican<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/art-culture\/where-does-the-pope-live\/#FAQs_%E2%80%93_Where_Does_The_Pope_Live\" >FAQs &#8211; Where Does The Pope Live?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/art-culture\/where-does-the-pope-live\/#Why_should_I_take_a_tour_of_the_Vatican_andor_Apostolic_Palace\" >Why should I take a tour of the Vatican and\/or Apostolic Palace?\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/art-culture\/where-does-the-pope-live\/#What_is_the_best_time_to_visit_Rome\" >What is the best time to visit Rome?\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_does_the_pope_live_now\"><\/span><b>Where does the pope live now?\u00a0<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pope Leo XIV conventionally lives the way many popes in the last 150 or so years have lived: in the Apostolic Palace. If you\u2019re standing in the middle of St. Peter\u2019s Square, embraced by the curving colonnades that surround the square, look to your right. That boxy, multi-floor building just behind the colonnade is the Apostolic Palace, a structure that not only contains papal living quarters but parts of the Vatican Museums and the Vatican Library.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19059\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19059\" class=\"wp-image-19059 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Walks_Vatican-Highlights-HR-0001res.jpg\" alt=\"A view of St. Peter's Basilica and Bernini\u2019s Colonnade\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Walks_Vatican-Highlights-HR-0001res.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Walks_Vatican-Highlights-HR-0001res-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-19059\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica and Bernini\u2019s Colonnade, with the <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apostolic Palace to the right<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike past popes, however, Pope Leo XIV has chosen not to live alone in the Papal Apartments on the third floor of the palace. Instead, he lives with four other people. Leo is an Augustinian, an order that emphasizes communal living. So, keeping with that spirit, the pope lives communally in the traditional living quarters of the papacy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_25331\" style=\"width: 1290px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25331\" class=\"wp-image-25331 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.1500.844.jpeg\" alt=\"Pope Leo XIV appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica (@Vatican Media) but where does the pope live?\" width=\"1280\" height=\"844\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.1500.844.jpeg 1280w, https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.1500.844-768x506.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-25331\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pope Leo XIV appears on the balcony of St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica (@Vatican Media)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the private papal apartments are not open to the public, several extraordinary parts of the Apostolic Palace can be visited, including the breathtaking Sistine Chapel, the Michelangelo-decorated shrine where popes get elected, and the richly decorated Raphael Rooms, the former apartment of Pope Julius II that was decorated by the famed Renaissance painter, Raphael Stanzio. Both are part of<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/attractions\/the-vatican-museums\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the Vatican Museums<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Insider Tip:<\/strong> If you want to experience these spaces for yourself, joining a guided visit like the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/vatican-tours\/pristine-sistine-chapel-tour\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Complete Vatican Tou<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">r, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this is one of the easiest ways to do it. With skip-the-line access and an expert guide, you\u2019ll not only enter the Apostolic Palace but also understand the history of the popes who lived there.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_8783\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8783\" class=\"wp-image-8783 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/RomeVatican-25-copy-1.jpg\" alt=\"Vatican Museums: The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/RomeVatican-25-copy-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/RomeVatican-25-copy-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-8783\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vatican Museums: The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel<\/p><\/div>\n<p><b>Where did Pope Francis live?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21, 2025, broke from papal tradition by choosing not to live in the Apostolic Palace at all. Instead, he resided in the nearby Domus Sanctae Marthae. The House of St. Martha was built in 1996 to house visiting clergy. It\u2019s also the \u201chotel\u201d where the College of Cardinals stay when they gravitate to the Vatican to elect a new pope.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8526\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8526\" class=\"wp-image-8526\" src=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Pope_Francis_Photo_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"585\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-8526\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A smiling Pope Francis greeting adoring fans while riding in the pope mobile in Rome.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/travel-tips\/pope-francis\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pope Francis\u2019s impact<\/span> <\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">was a real disruptor of papal tradition. Francis lived in a modestly furnished bedroom with a statue of Our Lady of Lujan, the Marian patroness of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, as well as a wooden standing crucifix.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_does_the_pope_live_in_the_summer\"><\/span><b>Where does the pope live in the summer?<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the months of July and August, popes traditionally escape the heat of Rome by fleeing to Castel Gandolfo, a town of about 9,000 people on the shores of Lake Albano, in the Castelli Romani hills about 16 miles south of Rome. When the pope summers here, he stays in the Apostolic Palace, also known as the pope&#8217;s summer palace. It was here that Pope Benedict XVI stayed immediately after announcing his retirement from the papacy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visitors can take tours of the pope\u2019s summer palace and the adjacent Barberini Gardens. Castel Gandolfo is about a 40-minute train ride from Rome\u2019s Termini railway station. If you are curious, you can learn more about the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/things-to-do\/castel-gandolfo-pope-summer-palace-rome\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Castel Gandolfo <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_9090\" style=\"width: 1510px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9090\" class=\"wp-image-9090 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Villa-Barberini-1-copy.jpg\" alt=\"The gardens of the Villa Barberini in the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo as seen on the Walks of Italy tour.\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Villa-Barberini-1-copy.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Villa-Barberini-1-copy-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-9090\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The gardens of the Villa Barberini in the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo<\/p><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_else_have_the_popes_lived\"><\/span><b>Where else have the popes lived?<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the 13th century, the papacy fled Rome for safer conditions. Specifically, they went 50 miles north to the town of Viterbo. From Pope Alexander IV in 1257 to Pope Martin IV in 1281, popes lived in the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/things-to-do\/viterbo-papal-palace\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Papal Palace<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in this town in northern Lazio.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About 30 years after returning to Rome, the papacy would leave Rome once again, this time taking up residence in the Papal Palace, or Palais de Papes, in Avignon, in the south of France. From Clement V in 1309 until Gregory XI in 1377, popes would call Avignon home during what was eventually called the Great Schism in church history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2718\" style=\"width: 2058px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2718\" class=\"wp-image-2718 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/DSC_0091-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Viterbo, a town in Lazio outside of Rome\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/DSC_0091-scaled.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/DSC_0091-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/DSC_0091-1536x1020.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2718\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Viterbo, a town in Lazio outside of Rome<\/p><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tips_for_visiting_the_Vatican\"><\/span><b>Tips for visiting the Vatican<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When visiting the Vatican, don\u2019t forget you\u2019re going to be walking on holy ground. For that matter, it\u2019s good to be mindful of a few things:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shoulders and knees should be covered when inside St. Peter\u2019s Basilica and the Vatican Museums.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want to avoid the lines to get into the Vatican Museums, sometimes going after lunch is the best way. You can also sign up for a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/vatican-tours\/pristine-sistine-chapel-tour\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">guided Vatican tour that will grant you <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">early morning access to the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s strongly recommended that you book tickets for the Vatican Museums well in advance. You can do that on the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.museivaticanitickets.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">official Vatican website<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Or you can also <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/vatican-tours\/highlights-vatican-museums-tour\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">join a Vatican tour<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that will shuttle you right into the museums, no hassle, no waiting.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_11934\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11934\" class=\"wp-image-11934 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Visiting-the-Vatican-e1733992627141.jpg\" alt=\"Visiting the Vatican Museums\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-11934\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Visiting the Vatican Museums is a unique and memorable experience<\/p><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQs_%E2%80%93_Where_Does_The_Pope_Live\"><\/span><b>FAQs &#8211; Where Does The Pope Live?<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_should_I_take_a_tour_of_the_Vatican_andor_Apostolic_Palace\"><\/span><b>Why should I take a tour of the Vatican and\/or Apostolic Palace?\u00a0<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re asking yourself the question\u2014Where does the pope live?\u2014and if you want to get access to the palace where the papacy has largely resided for the last 150 years, you can take a guided tour that will walk you through the Sistine Chapel and recently restored Rafael Rooms, located in the Apostolic Palace. Plus, you\u2019ll get skip-the-line-access, so no waiting in those annoyingly long lines when you sign up for our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/vatican-tours\/complete-vatican-tour\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Complete Vatican Tour with Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, &amp; St. Peter\u2019s Basilica<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_the_best_time_to_visit_Rome\"><\/span><b>What is the best time to visit Rome?<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar to the popes, it\u2019s best to avoid Rome in the summer months, particularly July and August, if you can help it. The shoulder seasons (April and May, September and October) are the ideal times because the weather is cooler, there are few tourists, and hotel prices are more affordable than in peak season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8704\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8704\" class=\"wp-image-8704 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/RomeVatican-34-copy.jpg\" alt=\"St. Peter's Cathedral is a great spot in the Vatican for kids if you know how to prep them for it.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/RomeVatican-34-copy.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/RomeVatican-34-copy-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-8704\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica in the Vatican City<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether you\u2019re going there during off-season, shoulder season, or peak season, the best way to see the Vatican is with a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/vatican-tours\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">guided tour<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; that way, you\u2019ll have at your side a local expert who will point things out that you may never have noticed, giving you the ultimate souvenir of Vatican City: a great memory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you ever wondered: Where does the pope live? The answer is a bit more complicated than it might seem. In nearly 2,000 years of the papacy, there have been 267 popes, and not all of them have lived in the same place. Not all of them have lived in Vatican City or in Rome [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":25331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[230,327,325,209],"ppma_author":[181],"class_list":["post-25329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-culture","tag-st-peters-basilica","tag-the-pope","tag-the-sistine-chapel","tag-the-vatican"],"authors":[{"term_id":181,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"david-farley","display_name":"David Farley","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Farley_AuthorPhoto.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Farley_AuthorPhoto.jpg"},"user_url":"","last_name":"Farley","first_name":"David","job_title":"","description":"David Farley is a West Village-based food and travel writer whose work appears regularly in the New York Times, National Geographic, BBC, and Food &amp; Wine, among other publications. He\u2019s the author of three books, including \u201cAn Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Church\u2019s Strangest Relic in Italy\u2019s Oddest Town,\u201d which was made into a documentary by the National Geographic Channel. You can find Farley\u2019s online homes at https:\/\/dfarley.com\/index.html and https:\/\/www.tripout.online\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25329"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25329"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25341,"href":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25329\/revisions\/25341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25329"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=25329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}