Yahoo – AFP,
October 14, 2016
Vatican
City (AFP) - Who needs a summer palace? Not Pope Francis, who has renounced the
delights of Castel Gandolfo outside Rome and opened his private apartments to
tourists, the Vatican said Friday.
The
Argentine has refused the traditional trappings of the papacy from the start,
declining to move into the sumptuous papal apartment in the Vatican and
plumping instead to live in a hotel inside the tiny city state.
His rooms
at Castel Gandolfo, a former summer favourite with popes hoping to escape the
heat of the capital, have been turned into a museum which will be officially
inaugurated on October 21.
Francis has
visited the palace some 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Rome only a couple of
times since his election in 2013, and has never spent the night there.
His
predecessors John Paul II (1978-2005) and Benedict (2005-2013) often stayed at
the site, which has been owned by the Holy See since 1596 and has expanded over
the centuries to now sprawl over 55 hectares (135 acres).
Francis
opened the estate's gardens to the public in 2014, with tours organised for
groups and by reservation only.
Since last
year, tourists have also been able to climb aboard a special white train for an
express trip to the lavish estate and a tour of the papal villa, including past
the pope's organic farm, which houses cows, free-range hens, cockerels and
pontifical bees.
Related Article:
No comments:
Post a Comment