[Alex Murphy]

Sometime in April, Benedict will take up permanent residence in Mater Ecclesiae, a modest convent for cloistered nuns at the Vatican. The convent is under renovation, however, so in the meantime, Benedict will live at Castel Gandolfo, the small town of about 8,000 people a few miles southeast of Rome that has been the summer retreat for popes for almost four centuries. And what a home it is. The complex, which overlooks Lake Albano and what's left of the enormous villa of the first-century Roman Emperor Domitian, actually dwarfs Vatican City by almost 400,000 square feet. It comes complete with landscaped gardens, an arboretum, natural conservatories, museums and fish ponds....

....Formally speaking, the Vatican assumed control of Castel Gandolfo only in 1929 under the Lateran Treaty, which formalized relations between Italy and the independent state of Vatican City. But in reality, it has been the church's domain since 1596, when Pope Clement VIII seized it from the Savelli family in lieu of unpaid debts, according to the Vatican's official history....

....Benedict will move in to Castel Gandolfo late Thursday afternoon. He'll get there by helicopter — a tradition started in 1975 by Pope Paul VI, who wanted to avoid traffic on the ancient Appian Way.

See the photoblog at NBCnews.com

[The Louiswu]

No to shabby. Hope he likes astronomy or those telescopes are going to go to waste.

[nickcarraway]

I don’t believe he will be at Castel Gandolfo after he retires. He won’t be pope anymore, so he has no right to be there.

[Biggirl]

If he does not pass on first. When I saw a picture of him today, he did not look too good. Not a good sign.

[boatbums]

Matthew 8:20 Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

[Mr Rogers]

http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/02/13/mater-ecclesiae-pope-benedict-home-after-vatican/

[Mr Rogers]

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/kathyschiffer/2013/02/pope-benedicts-new-digs/

[Salvation]

A typical “head of state” trip.

God bless His Holiness, Bendict XVI, Pope Emeritus.

But leave it to NBC ro emphasize the wrong thing.

[ansel12]

It is being reported that the Nuns are vacating, and that remodeling is being done to make the place habitable for a retired church leader and his servants to take over the estate.

“”Someone with a suspicious mind and deep knowledge of Vatican trivia might have guessed that something was going on months ago. Last November, a community of cloistered nuns vacated the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, located inside Vatican Gardens, two years before they were expected to do so.

The monastery has since been closed for renovation.””

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130212-pope-vatican-benedict-xvi-resigned-religion-world-italy-rome/

“”Once renovation work is complete at Mater Ecclesiae, founded in 1994 as a convent for a succession of female monastic orders by Benedict’s predecessor, John Paul II, the new pensioner will be able to move in. The nuns, who occupied up to 12 cells in the upper floors of the building, have moved out. Who else will live in the compound to serve the former pope is unclear.

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera said that the refurbishment had begun in November — at a time when, it seems, few if anyone in the Vatican had an inkling of what was on Benedict’s mind.””

http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/02/13/mater-ecclesiae-pope-benedict-home-after-vatican/

[BunnySlippers]

If I had a free crib like that, I’d retire too.

[Hot Tabasco]

I wonder if there’s a boat house with a bass boat and sea-doo’s?