Pope Leo XIV to Trip at Castel Gandolfo This Summer season

Even the Pope wants a summer season vacation.

Simply weeks after being named the first-ever American-born pope on Might 8, Pope Leo XIV can be taking a summer season vacation for relaxation and reflection in southern Italy. The Pope can be staying on the Castel Gandolfo exterior of Rome, positioned alongside the Lago Albano. 

“This afternoon, I’ll journey to Castel Gandolfo, the place I intend to have a brief interval of relaxation,” Pope Leo XIV shared in a devotional message at Saint Peter’s Sq. on July 6. “I hope that everybody will have the ability to get pleasure from some trip time so as to restore each physique and spirit.”

The Pope is scheduled to go to the famed summer season Papal residence by July 20, in accordance with a information launch from the Apostolic Palace and Gardens, which manages the Papal villa. Throughout his time within the residence, he’ll maintain Mass at St. Thomas of Villanova, together with different public prayers. This celebration of Mass holds a particular which means to Pope Leo XIV, since he attended Villanova College in Pennsylvania, and was even photographed sporting a Villanova hat after changing into Pope. 

The final papal go to to Castel Gandolfo was by Pope Francis in 2012, when he made three visits over that summer season. Pope Benedict XVI visited the Castel Gandolfo extra incessantly, with annual visits from 2005 by 2013. 

Nearly all of the Castel Gandolfo property was opened to the general public in 2014, and guests should buy tickets to enter the palace and gardens. Full-price tickets are 12 Euros (about $14 USD), and will be booked on the Vatican Museums’ web site.

“Wished by Pope Francis in 2014, the distinctive opening to most people of the Apostolic Palace and the Secret Backyard of Castel Gandolfo, goals to develop the cultural choices for guests, households, colleges, college college students and pilgrims, main them to find priceless creative and historic treasures,” the web site shares, regarding the public go to program. 

Adorned with work, marble flooring, and tapestries, the property and tour additionally function uniforms of the Palatine Guards, in addition to artifacts from the greater than 500 years of historical past, in accordance with the web site. 

For vacationers on the lookout for a trip much like the Pope’s summer season vacation, there are dozens of distinctive lodges and mattress & breakfasts alongside the Lago Albano and the encompassing neighborhood. Better of all, most of the properties are beneath $200 an evening. For instance, the ivy-decorated and lakefront Resort Ristorante La Culla del Lago has a whole bunch of constructive evaluations, presents free breakfast and Wi-Fi, and has availability for beneath $192.  The property describes itself as a private oasis of well-being and has a big non-public backyard for company to get pleasure from.