VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Leo XIV will spend two weeks of July at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, bringing back a centuries-old tradition that had been suspended by Pope Francis. Pope Leo will return to the papal summer villa for the three-day holiday weekend of Aug. 15-17. Castel Gandolfo was the summer residence of popes from 1626 until the election of Pope Francis, who chose to stay at the Vatican and not escape Rome’s summer heat at the cooler hilltop papal villa. Pope Leo spent several hours May 29 visiting the Borgo Laudato Si’ ecology project set up by Pope Francis in 2023 at the papal villa and farm in Castel Gandolfo, as well as the former papal summer residence there. The papal property at Castel Gandolfo extends over 135 acres — surpassing the 108.7 acres of Vatican City.