Thus, after using the colorful papal vestments that his predecessor, the Argentine Francis, rejected when he was elected last May, the pontiff - the first American - has now recovered another custom of the heads of the Catholic Church: taking a few days to rest outside the Vatican.

Pope Robert Prevost arrived on July 6 at Castel Gandolfo, an Italian town about 25 kilometers southeast of Rome, which, since the 17th century, has been a vacation retreat for 15 successors of St. Peter.

The Holy See Press Office reported that the pontiff will be at the summer residence until July 20, although he will return for a few more days in August.

"I hope that everyone can enjoy a vacation to recover their body and spirit," said Leo XIV, at the end of the traditional Angelus blessing in St. Peter's Square on July 6 and began his recess.

An imperial residence

The so-called Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo are a complex located in the Lazio region, specifically on a hill near Lake Albano. The complex consists of the Papal Palace, several villas, and the gardens designed by Giovanni Momo.

It covers an area of about 55 hectares, making it larger than Vatican City itself, which is just 44 hectares in size.

“It’s a place with beautiful views of the lake and a much cooler climate than Rome in the summer, which is why popes have been going there for centuries at this time of year,” Venezuelan Cardinal Baltazar Porras, who has been there, told BBC Mundo.

However, long before it became a papal refuge from the heat, other dignitaries had already made the site their summer retreat.

Castel Gandolfo stands on the remains of the Albanum Domintiani, the grandiose country residence of the Roman emperor Domitian (81-96 AD), which stretched for 14 square kilometers from the Via Appia,the famous road that led to Rome in ancient times; to the lake, reads the Vatican website.

After Domitian's death, other emperors such as Hadrian (117-138 AD) and Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD) also used the villa, but over time it fell into oblivion and began to be demolished to reuse its marble in other constructions in the nascent neighboring towns.

However, by the 12th century, a wealthy Genoese family named Gandolfi took over the land and built a castle with high walls on the top of the hill.

The name of the place, Castel Gandolfo, came from the type of building erected and the surname of the owning family, said the director of the Papal Villas, Andrea Tamburelli.

But how did it end up in the hands of the popes? “The imposing and well-defended fortress later passed to the Savelli family, who held it for approximately three centuries.

But in 1596, during the pontificate of Clement VIII (1592-1605), the Holy See confiscated Castel Gandolfo from the family due to an unpaid debt,” Tamburelli explained.

However, it would not be until more than 20 years after this operation that Urban VIII (1623-1644) would become the first pontiff to use the castle for vacations.

It was this Pope who commissioned the architect Carlo Maderno, responsible for the façade of St. Peter's Basilica, to build the current Pontifical Palace, which would be completed decades later by the now famous Lorenzo Bernini, who designed the colonnade that adorns Vatican Square.

While the work on the palace was being carried out, Urban VIII was staying in Villa Barberini, a sumptuous residence that belonged to a nephew of his.

It is in this villa that Leo XIV is spending his “vacation”, since the Pontifical Palace has been functioning as a museum since 2016, following orders from the previous Pope Bergoglio.

In the Palace there are paintings and frescoes made by great figures of art such as Paolo Veronese and Pier Leone Ghezzi.

“Vatican 2”

Over the next 200 years, Castel Gandolfo saw the addition of new gardens, large rooms, a square and highly decorated chapels. However, this process of expansion came to a halt in 1870, when the Papal States - the kingdom that the popes held for 11 centuries - disappeared with the unification of Italy.

“After the end of the Papal States in 1870, the residence was abandoned for about 60 years, as the popes did not leave the Vatican,” Tamburelli noted.

However, with the signing of the Lateran Treaties of 1929,with which the Italian State recognized the autonomy and independence of Vatican City and the ownership of Castel Gandolfo, the pontiffs returned to their residence facing Lake Albano.

From then on, a series of renovations were carried out to the complex and striking additions such as an astronomical observatory run by Jesuit fathers and a helipad, according to the Vatican website.

Except for Pope John Paul I, who died in September 1978, just 33 days after his election, all the popes since Pius XI (1922-1939) visited the complex at least once.

However, it was John Paul II (1978-2005) who seemed to enjoy the castle the most, which he nicknamed “Vatican 2” and would travel there not only in the summer, but also after trips abroad or even after important holidays like Christmas and Easter.

The Polish pontiff, famous for his love of sports, enjoyed hiking in the mountains, several of them escaping his escorts, as long as his health allowed. Shortly after his election, John Paul II was responsible for another striking addition to the residence: he ordered the construction of a swimming pool, revealed Enrico Marinelli, former head of the Italian police at the Vatican, in his book “The Pope and His General.” “Organizing another conclave would be more expensive than this pool,” was the argument that Pope Wojtyla gave to those in the Curia who did not approve of the idea, claiming that it was necessary to stay in shape physically, Marinelli recounted. The version of the pool’s existence was corroborated by Cardinal Porras, who in 1984 visited Castel Gandolfo to meet with the Polish pontiff. “Newly appointed bishop, I went with the other Venezuelan prelates to the Ad with John Paul II and the meeting was after lunch, because the Pope had been swimming for three or four hours. He looked rosy-cheeked at the meeting," the emeritus archbishop of Caracas told BBC Mundo.

The current American pontiff is also an accomplished athlete, although his favorite sport is tennis.

A site steeped in history

But Castel Gandolfo is more than its beautiful gardens or a site that contains paintings, frescoes and tapestries of incalculable value, it is an extension of the Vatican and, therefore, an office steeped in history.

In 1944, in the midst of World War II, the controversial Pius XII (1939-1958) turned the place into a shelter for people displaced by the bombings.

Up to 12,000 people moved to the Palace and the villas, including dozens of Jews fleeing Nazi persecution, according to records from the Vatican.

Pope Francis himself used this episode to defend his predecessor.

“(Pius XII) hid many (Jews) in the convents of Rome and other Italian cities, and also in his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo. There, in the Pope’s room, in his own bed, 42 children of Jews and other persecuted people were born,” the Argentine pontiff declared in 2014.

“The first (children born in the papal chamber) were the twins Eugenio Pio and Pío Eugenio, baptized with the Pope’s name,” the director of the Vatican Museums, Barbara Jatta, assured Vatican News in 2024.

Before becoming Pius XII, the pontiff responded to the name Eugenio Pacelli. This pontiff and Paul VI (1963-1978) died while staying at the summer residence.

For his part, Pope Bergoglio himself was the protagonist of another unprecedented event in Castel Gandolfo. On March 23, 2013, just 10 days after his election, he traveled to the summer residence to meet with his predecessor, Benedict XVI (2005-2013).

Immediately after renouncing the throne of St. Peter, the German Joseph Ratzinger secluded himself in the papal summer residence and remained there until May 2 of that year.

The meeting was the first on record between two living popes of the Catholic Church.

More than a vacation retreat

Among the traditions that Francis broke was not spending the summer at Castel Gandolfo.

“I always take vacations—really!—but in my habitat: a change of pace. I sleep more, I read what I like, I listen to music, I pray more,” he declared in 2014 upon his return from a trip to South Korea, to explain why he did not leave the Vatican during the period hottest of the year.

For Porras, one of the reasons Bergoglio barely went to the summer residence during his 12 years of pontificate was simply financial.

"The reform he was carrying out in the Curia included economic issues. Maintaining a palace of that nature, full of priceless works of art, for the Pope to visit for a few days is extremely expensive," reasoned the Venezuelan cardinal, who was close to the late pontiff.

Two years later, Bergoglio decided to open the Pontifical Palace of Castel Gandolfo to the public and in 2023 he made another decision: he converted part of the gardens into an environmental training institute.

The Laudato Si' Center for Higher Education, in memory of Bergoglio's encyclical in which he advocates for protecting nature, is aimed at marginalized young people, immigrants, and the long-term unemployed, and seeks to offer them tools to develop a sustainable economy, according to its website.

And among the projects that the center has launched is a vineyard, which seeks to produce wines through "the use of the most advanced technologies,a careful reconnection with biodiversity and care for the ecosystem,” explained its director, Fabio Baggio, in a statement.

Although Pope Prevost’s intentions are to disconnect and rest, it is unlikely that he will be able to do so completely. Proof of this is the meeting he held on Wednesday with the President of Ukraine, Volodmyr Zelesky, to whom he offered his efforts to achieve peace with Russia.