New-York tribune., 1903-08-24
CASTEL GAND0LF0.
An Eagles Nest IN the AIbans-Jt.
Memories.

alty granted by the Italian Government in Is,
it included with the Vatican and -
Lateran as the remnant Of the estates ~ -.
Church over which the Pope could retain -
elusive Jurisdiction. For many summers pt~-
IN came TO the quaint village with sn.-
retinue OF cardinals and PapaI funetiona-.-
and few OF the oldest wayside beggars -
member his benevolent face and the glints !.
red in his cortege. He was a good walker :
those days. and liked to stroll among the -.
races high above the lake: and it was also n.
habit ride a white mule to AIbano =
Marino under giant boughed trees planted :,
his predecessors in the Papscy. This was -.
summer home which he abandoned when N.
Italian army entered Michael Angeles gatsvav
and seized the QuirinaI Leo XIII was never j.
residence there, although he must have saan q
in his boyhood. for he was BORN In Carpinato
among the Voscian Mountains. not far a-r.v
southward-
The crowned prisoners Of the Vatican havs
not felt at liberty to go to the Lateran al
though under Italian law they have the sans
privilege of exclusive dominion there as in tbsi,
own palace, and CasteI GandoIfo. being rpe,
more inaccessible, is beyond the range OF tbsi-
aspirations The Italian Government would b.
willing undoubtedly to call cut an army corps
for the protection OF the new Pope il he vera
likely that any demand viii be made upon il,
military resources.
The old PapaI palace towers above scuar5
little village whose fortunes have steadily de-
Clned since il was a stronghold alternately %
the Candida and the Savelli in rnediaeyal times
and afterward the summer residence Of numer-
Gus Popes. There is a cluster Of small stone
houses az the road level. and from the entrancs
OF Villa Barberini. now the summer quarters Of
the North American College. with its seventy
students, groups OF children in rags and tatte-s
can be seen at play on the steep inclines leading
up to the massive gateway. There are no signs
of animation III the huge court within. The
high, grandiose walls erumbling and tAs
stairways and corridors are neglected. Ths
chateau has been used during recent years as
a convent but it is scarcely habitable from lack
OF repairs. A custodian as melancholy as the
faded ruin itself grudgingly allows visitors to
go about and answers their questions in
sepulchral voice There is nothing in the IN
terror to support the aspect of grandeur In
parted by the vastness Of the court and the
height OF the massive walls. The rooms are
small and cherries. and the decorations are
simple and Unpretentious. Berninis church,
near the palace, is a typical one Of the dasen-
crate BaToque style with which Rome was dis
figured after the creative period OF the Relais-
sance. There are no evidences that the chateau
was ever a luxurious residence. II the Pepes
were drawn to it during the heated period in
Rome it was on account OF the wide reaching
and entrancins views Of the Campagna, the sea,
the lakes and the Sabine Mountains The Papal
palace is now melancholy and empty barFaek.
but the sunsets from this eagles nest are among
the most glorious in Italy. for there are grmpses
of two seas-the silent Campagna. strewn with
wreckage. and beyond the dome Of St Peters
the shimmering Mediterranean.
The Fopes who built and reconstructed this
abandoned palace impressed their char
acters upon it. Urban VIII. who obtained de-
signs from Maderno a generation after the estate
had been purchased from the SaveIH for the
PapaI Government, passed his pontihcate in
fortifying the possessions which Clement VIII
had consolidated into a political kingdom He
added new breastworks to Castel St Angelo
converted the vaults under the Vatican Library
into an arsenal. established a mandatory OF
arms at Tivol and constructed fortresses along
the Bolognese and other frontiers. When he
built his palaces in the Alban Mountains the
walls were high. like those which he erected
around the gardens on Mount Cavallo; and II
the structure were gloomy and menacing as s
fortress, it appealed to his military instincts
and attracted him summer after summer from
Rome The paIatial barraCk of Urban VII
needed extensive alterations when the ease low
ing Alexander VII adopted it as his favorIs
residence on account OF the literary and class-
cal associations of the neishboTtns hills; ana
at a later period there was another TeconstFue-
ton, when Clement XIII. religious reclus4
sought peace and retirement in the Tlountais
for pious devotions. \ camping ground foF'
militant diplomatist, a salon for hterati ANA
refuge for meditation upon the spiritual sIrus'
giles and triumphs Of the Church. Castei Gal-
dolfo has served the requirements OF m-As
Popes; but. now that it is no longer oceup''1
as a summer residence and annex to the Vatican
it is a sombre memorial Of baroque archi'sc'-
of several periods. the court suggesting vaslnss'
and ostentation and the mixed lines turbulent
unrest like the condition Of the AloaR Ai1s
when the Savelli. the Orsini. the Colonna @lD
other powerful clans were struggling fof %
premacy in what had been ancient Latiun-
Castel Gandolfo is approached in two houi'
from Frascati by a good walker and wha' ."
inspiring stroll it IS with the backward ghhpSS
of ruined Tusculum and tufted alleys ana SUI
tuous villas in all the loveliest spots anu =
broad prospects Of the Campagna shimnerihs
the full glory of summertide, The ROAD OVs-
between high gray walls, followed by ans
of bushes and leads into fragrant Wooui--
with vivid wildhowers shining in the VeiU-
gloom Far in the north SOracts STANDS sp
from the hills of Tivoli; and closer at haho' w.
i picturesque town struggling along us n@NAI
Cavo with its Via Triumphals hoored
lava and its heap OF weatherbeaten stores
meagre relics OF the chief temple or priil~
Latium. A wayside shrine is passed near e'N--.
of holm oaks and chestnUts, and an liHiA7
casteIIated monastery looms up IKE
medieval fortress beyond the village OF ~
Ferrata; and within an hour a WaHeo
Marino, timeworn and austere. bears "l'-s =,
the irreconcilabIe feuds or the Orsinl a"@ .,.-
Colonna There is another roadside snrlls -.