By Harry Nara · Last updated
- Where
- Castel Sant’Angelo and St Peter’s Basilica
- Tickets
- Free
- Time of year
- June
- Dates
- Around the same dates every year
A fixed date and a public holiday in Rome alone, not across Italy. The Girandola is staged by the city and is confirmed each year a few weeks ahead rather than being automatic.
Two things catch visitors out on the same day. The first is that this is a public holiday in Rome and nowhere else in Italy, so shops, banks and offices close and the Vatican Museums shut completely while the rest of the country works. The second is that almost nobody knows about the Girandola, a firework display fired from the roof of Castel Sant’Angelo whose design goes back to the Renaissance. It happens in the late evening, it is free, and it is one of the best hours of the Roman year.
What Saints Peter and Paul actually is
The solemnity of the two apostles martyred in Rome, and the city’s patron saints day. The Pope celebrates Mass in St Peter’s in the morning and blesses the pallium, the white woollen band given to new metropolitan archbishops, who come to Rome from around the world to receive it. Via della Conciliazione is laid with an infiorata, a carpet of flower petals, coloured sawdust and salt worked into pictures along the avenue towards the square. And at night the city fires the Girandola from Castel Sant’Angelo, a display first staged in the fifteenth century and designed in its most famous form to pour sparks down the round fortress like a wheel.
Where to watch Saints Peter and Paul
- Ponte Umberto I, and this is the pick for the fireworks. The Girandola is fired from the roof of the fortress, so you want distance and a clear line down the river rather than to be underneath it. Umberto I gives you the castle, the bridge of angels and the reflection in one frame. Positions go in the hour before.
- Lungotevere Tor di Nona, for the same view without the bridge crush. The embankment on the Centro Storico side runs parallel to the river and holds far more people than the bridges do. Slightly further back, considerably more comfortable, and you can leave when you like.
- Ponte Sant’Angelo itself, if you want Bernini’s angels in the shot. Closest of the lot and correspondingly the busiest, and it gets closed to new arrivals when it fills. Worth it once, and only if you commit early.
- Via della Conciliazione during the day, for the infiorata. Thousands of flower petals laid into pictures along the avenue running to St Peter’s. It is made in the morning, it is best in the early afternoon light, and it does not survive the day, so this is not something you can see the following morning.
- Inside St Peter’s for the pallium Mass. The morning liturgy is the reason the new archbishops are in Rome at all, and it is one of the more visually distinctive of the year. It is ticketed for seating in the usual way and the basilica closes around it.
Tickets and what it costs
The public parts cost nothing. The infiorata is laid in a public street, the Girandola is watched from the embankments and the bridges, and there is no ticketed viewing area for either. The Mass follows the normal papal pattern: free, with seat tickets issued by the Prefecture on request. What the day does cost you is access. The Vatican Museums close, many restaurants in the centre take the holiday, and anything you were planning to buy is best bought the day before.
Official information and booking: www.turismoroma.it/en
Getting there
Lepanto and Ottaviano on Metro A are the nearest stations to the castle, both about ten minutes on foot. From the Centro Storico side it is a short walk from Piazza Navona down to the river, and that is the better approach because it leaves you on the embankment rather than in the Borgo. Expect the bridges and the Lungotevere to close to traffic in the evening, and the buses along the river to divert. Transport runs a holiday timetable all day, which means Sunday frequencies on a working Tuesday.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Booking the Vatican Museums for that day
They close completely for the feast, Sistine Chapel included, because it is the Vatican’s own patron saints day. This is the single most common casualty, because visitors check Italian public holidays, see nothing, and book.
Assuming the rest of Italy is shut too
It is a Rome-only holiday. Trains run normally, other cities work as usual, and a day trip out of the city is a perfectly sensible response to it. What you cannot do is assume Rome will behave like a normal weekday.
Standing at the foot of the castle for the Girandola
The display is fired from the roof and designed to be seen at a distance and against the river. Directly beneath it you get noise, smoke and a bad angle. The bridges downstream and the far embankment are the places to be.
Leaving the infiorata until the evening
The flower carpet is laid in the morning and does not last. By the time the fireworks come round it has been walked over. See it in the afternoon or not at all.
Expecting the Girandola every year without checking
It lapsed for long periods historically and the modern revival is staged by the city rather than being automatic. It is usually on and it is usually confirmed a few weeks ahead. Check the city listing rather than assuming.
Other Rome events
Frequently asked questions
Is the feast of Saints Peter and Paul a public holiday?
In Rome only. It is the city’s patron saints day, so shops, banks, schools and offices close and public transport moves to a holiday timetable, while the rest of Italy works normally. The Vatican Museums close for the day as well.
What is the Girandola?
A firework display fired from the roof of Castel Sant’Angelo, first staged in the fifteenth century and later given its famous form as a wheel of sparks pouring down the round fortress. The modern version is revived by the city, runs about half an hour in the late evening, and is free to watch from the embankments and bridges.
Where is the best place to watch the fireworks?
Ponte Umberto I or Lungotevere Tor di Nona, both of which give you the castle at a distance with the river in front of it. Ponte Sant’Angelo is closest and puts Bernini’s angels in the frame, but it fills early and gets closed off. Standing directly beneath the castle is the one thing not to do.
What is the infiorata on Via della Conciliazione?
A carpet of flower petals, coloured sawdust and salt worked into large pictures along the avenue leading to St Peter’s Square. It is made in the morning of the feast and does not survive the day, so it needs to be seen in the afternoon.
What closes and what stays open?
Banks, offices, schools and many shops close, and so do the Vatican Museums. Major state sites such as the Colosseum and the Forum generally keep normal hours, restaurants in the tourist centre mostly open, and neighbourhood trattorias often do not. Transport runs Sunday frequencies.
Is it worth being in Rome for it?
It is worth knowing about if you are already there, which is the honest answer. It is a free evening spectacle with five hundred years of history behind it and very few foreign visitors in the crowd. It is not on its own a reason to book a trip, and the closures mean you should plan the daytime around it rather than into it.
Sources
- Turismo Roma, official city events calendar
- Vatican Museums, opening days and closures
- Castel Sant’Angelo, Girandola information
Dates on this page are checked against the organiser’s own listing and confirmed through 2027. Written and maintained by Harry Nara.