Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 17, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GooglePope Leo will retreat to Castel Gandolfo from July 6-20 to escape Rome's heat, reviving a tradition paused by Pope Francis.
By Joshua McElwee
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -As temperatures in Rome swelter this month, reaching more than 35 degrees Celsius (95°F) under the hot Mediterranean sun, Pope Leo has decided to leave town.
The pontiff will spend July 6 to 20 about an hour's drive south in Castel Gandolfo, a small hamlet on Lake Albano, the Vatican said on Tuesday.
Leo, elected pope on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis, will also return to the lakeshore for at least one weekend in August, it said.
All of Leo's public and private audiences have been suspended from July 2 through July 23, the Vatican said, as was usual under Francis, to allow the pontiff a period of rest. They will restart on July 30.
By going to Castel Gandolfo, Leo is restarting a summer tradition that was broken by Francis.
Dozens of popes over centuries have spent the summer months at Lake Albano, where temperatures are usually about ten degrees cooler than Rome, but Francis preferred to stay in his air-conditioned Vatican residence.
The Vatican has owned a papal palace and surrounding grounds in Castel Gandolfo since 1596. Spanning 55 hectares, the property includes official apartments, elaborate Renaissance-style gardens, a forest and a working dairy farm.
Francis, who shunned most of the trappings of the papacy, had the official papal palace turned into a museum.
Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni told Reuters the pope would not stay at the palace, which will remain a museum, and will instead stay on another Vatican property.
Leo will return to Castel Gandolfo for the weekend of August 15 to 17.
August 15, a Catholic feast day to celebrate Mary, the Mother of God, is an Italian public holiday. Many Italians spend that day, and much of August, at the beach.
(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
Pope Leo will stay at Castel Gandolfo from July 6 to 20 and will return for the weekend of August 15 to 17.
Pope Leo is restarting a summer tradition by going to Castel Gandolfo, where temperatures are usually about ten degrees cooler than Rome.
Pope Francis preferred to stay in the air-conditioned Vatican during summer months, breaking the tradition of spending time at Castel Gandolfo.
All of Pope Leo's public and private audiences have been suspended from July 2 through July 23 to allow him a period of rest.
August 15 is a Catholic feast day celebrating Mary, the Mother of God, and is also an Italian public holiday when many Italians spend time at the beach.
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