The pope is in for a holy holiday tradition.
After a surprising rise to the top position, Pope Leo XIV will be taking a summer holiday.
He recently announced plans to stay at the Castel Gandolfo — a 135-acre complex in a hilltop town on the outskirts of Rome that offers breathtaking views of Lake Albano and has hosted popes for centuries.
In a devotional message at Saint Peter’s Square on July 6, Pope Leo XIV shared his plans to travel to the Lazio region, about 20 miles outside Rome, for a “short period of rest.”
He hopes that “everyone will be able to enjoy some vacation time in order to restore both body and spirit” — something that likely comes easily at the Castel Gandolfo.
Pope Leo XIV arrived Sunday evening, welcomed by a large group of religious followers, and is expected to relax at the lakeside location until July 20 and return for a few days in August — if you want to sneak a peek at the pope, according to Vatican News.
He greeted the crowds and blessed children upon his arrival. During his visit, he is scheduled to hold public prayers, including a Mass at St. Thomas of Villanova — a special moment for the man who attended Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
The stunning spot has been a summer getaway for the popes since the 17th century, but hasn’t hosted a pontiff for a stay for the past 12 summers.
“To say we are happy would be an understatement,” Anna, a local shopkeeper, told The Guardian. “Not only because his presence generates some activity but because this is a papal town – it is the air that we breathe.”
Pope Benedict XVI was the last pope to reside in Castel Gandolfo, which he did after his resignation in 2013.
Pope Francis — Pope Leo’s predecessor — visited Castel Gandolfo three times without staying overnight.
The pontiff, who died in April at age 88, was known to reject the Vatican’s pomp and privilege and converted the Castel Gandolfo residence into a museum instead of enjoying the stunning cliffside vacation retreat, its swimming pool and organic farm for himself.
He opened it to the public in 2016 and in 2023 announced the creation of the “Borgo Laudato Si’” — located in the gardens of the Pontifical Villas — as a space for educational and social activities that promote integral development and caring for the environment.
Visitors can now purchase tickets to enter the palace and gardens for $14.
The space is filled with paintings, marble floors, tapestries and artifacts from nearly 500 years of history.
Parts of the museum — such as the Vatican Observatory — will be closed to the public during the current pope’s stay, but much of the space will remain open, including the rooms on the second floor where the popes used to stay.
The Consistory Hall, the Throne Room, the Swiss Room, the bedroom, the private chapel, the library, and the study used to only be available to the pope’s inner circle, but are now open to all guests.
Pope Leo XIV will not reside in the Apostolic Palace — where many of his predecessors did — but in Villa Barberini, which served primarily as a park until now.
The building was originally a small palace built by Scipione Visconti in the 17th century in the area then known as “Mompecchio.”
Pope Urban VIII became the first to spend time in Castel Gandolfo in 1626 after the Holy See took the property from the Savelli family due to financial troubles.
He turned the ancient villa — built on the ruins of the Ancient Roman Emperor Domitian’s (81–96 AD) villa, known as the Albanum Domitiani — into a summer residence during his time.
The grounds have since been expanded and renovated over the centuries.
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