A rare glimpse inside the remote retreat Pope Benedict XVI is soon to call home Within the estate's extensive grounds are formal gardens, giant holm oaks, fountains, fish ponds and the ruins of a villa built by Diocletian, the Roman emperor. The Sunday Telegraph was last week given a rare guided tour of the property, which is normally off-limits to the public and has been used for four centuries as the summer residence for popes keen to escape the squalor, heat - and intrigues - of Rome. "The oldest parts of the castle date back to the 13th century," said Saverio Petrillo, whose title is director of the Papal villas. It was acquired by the Vatican in 1596 when the Savelli family, who owned it, were unable to pay a debt to the Papacy. An archway connects the castle to a hidden elevator that will allow the 85-year-old Pope to easily descend into his vast private gardens, which command a view of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The estate offers plenty of opportunities for pensive walks - at 55 hectares, it is actually bigger than the entire Vatican City State, which the German Pope has called home for the last eight years. Pope Benedict XVI walks around Castel Gandolfo in 2010 (Rex Features) The grounds have avenues of pine trees, poplars and orange trees, greenhouses growing fruit and vegetables and a herd of 25 Friesian cows, penned in a paddock. A broad terrace shaded by mature trees is built over a huge subterranean chamber constructed by the Emperor Domitian. "He would have gone for walks there after dinner to aid his digestion," said Pier Paolo Turoli, administrator of the estate. There are the remains of a Roman theatre too. Benedict will live in a wing of the castle that faces Rome and the sea, with access to his apartments reached through grand reception salons replete with tapestries, gilt-edged furniture and inlaid marble floors. He will be able to pray in a small chapel and will have access to a lavatory decorated with medieval frescoes. There is even a billiards room, should he wish a break from writing and theological ruminations. His papal crest, which incorporates crossed keys, a Moor's head and a bear, is everywhere, even appearing in tiny form above brass light switches. Pope Benedict XVI celebrates his second-last Angelus prayer last week (AP) The soon-to-be ex-Pope will celebrate his last Angelus prayer from his window overlooking St Peter's Square on Sunday, and his final audience in front of tens of thousands of faithful on Wednesday. There will be a final, emotional meeting with cardinals on Thursday morning, and in the afternoon he will be flown to Castel Gandolfo. When his helicopter sets down on the estate, he will be driven to the castle, which looms imposingly over the main piazza of the tiny village of Castel Gandolfo. He will appear at a balcony over the entrance gate and greet thousands of well-wishers crammed into the cobbled square. Then he will pray in the private chapel as the final moments of his pontificate tick away - at 8pm precisely local time, he will cease to be Pope, his word will no longer be infallible, and he will no longer be Benedict XVI, the 264th successor to St Peter. He will live in Castel Gandolfo for two months, giving workmen and renovators time to prepare a former nunnery in the grounds of the Vatican where he is expected to live out the rest of his life with his housekeepers, his private secretary, and his beloved cats.