Pope Benedict XVI will spend his summer holiday in the Val D'Aosta mountain village of Les Combes di Introd, the Vatican said Friday.
The 82-year-old pontiff will stay in the Alpine retreat near the border with France and Switzerland from July 13-29.
This will be his third holiday in Les Combes, which was also a favourite with his predecessor John Paul II.
In 2005 and 2006 Benedict stayed in a Salesian stone-and-wood house surrounded by larches and fir trees that offers spectacular views of the rugged landscape and of Mont Blanc.
The pope is due to give two Sunday Angelus addresses during his stay, once from nearby Romano Canavese, the hometown of Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and once from Les Combes.
On his return Benedict will move into his summer residence at the hill town of Castelgandolfo outside Rome, where he traditionally remains until late September.
In 2007 the pope holidayed at Lorenzago di Cadore near Belluno in the Veneto, while last year he spent his break with brother Georg Ratzinger in Bressanone in Alto Adige.
