The Vatican acquired the 13th-century castle in 1596 as payment of a debt owed by the Savelli family, and its gardens occupy the site of a residence of the Emperor Domitian. Carlo Maderno, a Swiss-Italian architect, is named as the architect, and Pope Urban VIII began using the palace in the spring of 1626. The article calls the main building a 17th-century villa and gives no style or materials.
Pius XI modernized it and added the adjoining Villa Barberini, resuming use in 1934. The complex covers 135 acres (54.6 ha). Under the 1929 Lateran Treaty it is Italian territory owned by the Holy See, with extraterritoriality similar to a diplomatic mission.
It has been a papal summer residence, and the main palace has been open as a museum since October 2016. The Barberini Gardens have offered paid escorted tours since 2014.
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