Castel Gandolfo renaissance as Pope Leo XIV spends day at papal retreat

Vatican City, Sep 9, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV is at his Castel Gandolfo residence for the day on Tuesday as he brings back regular use of the papal retreat after the estate spent 12 years in the shadows.

The Vatican said the pontiff “will continue his activities” from Villa Barberini — his residence in Castel Gandolfo, 18 miles south of Rome — from the evening of Sept. 8 to the afternoon of Sept. 9.

Tuesday is usually the one day a week the pope does not hold formal audiences, allowing him the freedom to spend time at the hilltop property sometimes known as the “second Vatican City.”

During his pontificate, Pope Francis eschewed the papal summer residence, preferring to remain in Vatican City.

Under Leo, the Castel Gandolfo property is enjoying a renaissance — most recently with the inauguration of the ecological village, Borgo Laudato Si’, a project inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’.

The pontiff toured the revamped 35-acre estate in a golf cart on Sept. 5 before celebrating a Liturgy of the Word in a greenhouse complex.

Now open to visitors, the ecological compound, divided between gardens and agricultural and farming land, includes state-of-the-art insulation, photovoltaic, and circular water management systems as well as spaces for educational activities for students.

But Borgo Laudato Si’ is just a portion of the full 135-acre pontifical property, where Pope Leo also stayed in July and August.

Continuing a centuries-old papal tradition of summer rest, the pope spent the holiday weekend of the solemnity of the Assumption of Mary from Aug. 15–17 at Castel Gandolfo.

He also stayed there for 16 days in July for what he told journalists was a “working holiday” and a chance for “a change of scenery.”

After the 12 years of Francis’ pontificate, in which the Castel Gandolfo property went unused, the Vatican renovated Villa Barberini, the palace now being occupied by Leo, and refreshed the swimming pool used by St. Pope John Paul II during his vacations.

A tennis court was also installed near the Villa Barberini residence for the tennis-loving Leo.