Convent Stays Near Vatican
 

I am in need of information for two nuns that I know who will be traveling to Rome in Oct. They would like a convent B&B near the Vatican that does not have alot of stairs or hills and a "late" curfew or no curfew. They would like to stay out and have a late dinner and not worry about getting back by 10:30. They are rather old that is why they are requesting fewer stairs. Thanks for any recommendations. Oh and if you know websites that would be great.

I've not stayed in any of these but this site gives a listing of convents in Rome.

http://www.santasusanna.org/comingToRome/convents.shtml

It's not easy to find information about convent stays, much less about their accessibility, online. You'll probably have to ask the convents for details, and usually by fax, since most don't have e-mail.

I know that this convent near the Vatican gives you a key and then allows you to come and go without a curfew. You'd have to ask about stairs and hills, and I don't think they speak English:

Istituto S. Giuseppe della Montagna, Viale Vaticano 88, Ist. S. Giuseppe della Montagna; e-mail:[email protected]

I googled and surfed when I was researching for myself and came up with a couple of other sites with a few listings:
www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/guest.htm
www.pusc.it/pec/conv05/en_ac_sp.htm

I also found a very long, unannotated list at the Rome APT (tourist office) site, www.romaturismo.com, but I can't get the list to come up now. If you want to try, click on "case per ferie" in the Italian version or "holiday homes" in the English. It just gives basic info, and you'll need a map to see exactly where they are. The ones near the Vatican will say "XVII" or "XVII" in the left-hand column, which gives the district of Rome.

Whew.

But if these are nuns who are looking, their mother house or parish priest may be able to help with info and contacts.

Make the "XVII" or "XVIII." Sorry.

Hi kadurk49, another website besides the one that cls2paris provided is for The Rome Tourist Board at www.romaturismo.it.

Hope you can find something for these dear nuns that will have the requirements that they need. Take care.

Thank you very much. This is a good start.

Type Rome Convents into the search box at the top of the page. Many, many messages will appear from the archives on the left-hand side of your page. There are many convents in Rome that accept visitors. Many have email addresses. Pay attention to reviews of Istituto Santa Giuliana Falconieri, which has e-mail and English speaking sisters.

If the nuns you know contact their mother house, they may be able to find accommodations within their order.

Istituto Santa Giuliani Falconieri isn't near the Vatican, though. It's near Piazza Navona in the historic center.

It's a fairly long, but uncomplicated, walk (we did it) or a short taxi ride to the Vatican from Santa Giuliana Falconieri. However, the positives about this convent outweigh the fact that it's not in the shadow of the Vatican, IMHO. It has a lift, is not on a hill, and the curfew is midnight, all requested in the original post.

I got this information from “Bed and Blessings” by June Walsh.

Casa Paolo VI, Viale Vaticano, 92
Tel (06)397 23797.
They have an elevator. There is no curfew. No English. The Vatican museum is just steps away from this house.

Convento San Francesco, Via Nicolo V, 35. Tel (06) 393 66531
They also have an elevator. The curfew is flexible. They do speak English. This is close to the Vatican gardens.

San Giuseppe della Montagna, Viale Vaticano, 88
Tel (06) 397 23807
Curfew is flexible. Some English. Close to the Vatican museum.

I am sorry I don’t have any websites.

There is a convent school that also has limited rooms for visitors & is in the immediate Vatican area. Run by the Sisters of St. Dorothea. Nuns are Maltese, or at least the ones I remember encountering were. No English unless you find one who might know a little. Thye also will allow you to join them for (delicious!) meals if you choose to for a nominal amount. I'm sorry I don't recall the name .... they had a vacancy/cancellation we chanced upon when our own reservations elsewhere (during Easter week in Rome!) fell through.

I think the place Eliztravel stayed may be Suore Dorotee, which is on the Via del Gianicolo (on the Janiculum hill), south of the Vatican. You can find some info about it on the Santa Susanna list that another poster mentioned above.

BTW, I'll be staying at Sta. Giuliana Falconieri next spring.

Thanks, KT, that may be it. When we were there, the children who boarded at the school were gone for Easter break, and they allowed a few "overflow" people to stay in one of the empty dorms. I was one of those. Interesting experience. But, we also spent one night in one of the rooms they keep for visitors, in a different section of the complex, and it was spotless & quite nice though somewhat spartan.

We ate dinner here on the Saturday night before Easter Sunday. Meal was served family style, one sitting with community tables. I noticed a number of priests "dropped in" for the excellent food! Those who wanted them were given (free) tickets to a reserved section of St. Peter's Square for the Pope's outdoor Easter Sunday Mass.

Anyway, we felt quite lucky to have found this place for out Easter weekend.