Pope Urban VIII built the papal palace in Castel Gandolfo in 1624 to give popes an escape from Rome. It was enlarged over succeeding pontificates to its present size of 55 hectares (136 acres ...

Pope Urban VIII built the papal palace in Castel Gandolfo in 1624 to give popes an escape from Rome. It was enlarged over succeeding pontificates to its present size of 55 hectares (136 acres ...

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (AP) — Pope Leo XIV arrived in the papal summer retreat of Castel Gandolfo on Sunday to start a six-week vacation, giving the hilltop town back its most illustrious ...

For 400 years, most popes escaped the Roman summer in the hilltop town of Castel Gandolfo, Italy. Then Francis stopped going, leaving the town a bit bereft.

Rome Newsroom, Jul 6, 2025 / 13:45 pm Pope Leo XIV was welcomed by well-wishers upon his arrival to his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, on Sunday. Crowds of people standing behind ...

Two months into his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV will leave Rome to spend two weeks on a pontifical estate in the lakeside town of Castel Gandolfo, 18 miles south of the city, and sometimes known as ...

But Francis, a homebody who never took a proper vacation during his 12-year pontificate, decided to remain in Rome in summer. So for Castel Gandolfo, Leo’s vacation is a welcome return.

Castel Gandolfo was modernized before many other towns in the area, benefiting from major Vatican investments in infrastructure in the 17th and 18th centuries, especially under two previous popes ...