Around 200 police will be deployed on a 24-hour basis to ensure the safety of Pope Benedict XVI when he begins his summer holiday on Monday in the Val D'Aosta mountain village of Les Combes di Introd.Specialist officers including a dog unit will be charged with surveillance of the woods surrounding the village, while there will also be increased security controls at nearby service stations and exits on the Aosta-Turin motorway.
The 82-year-old pontiff will stay in the Alpine retreat near the border with France and Switzerland until July 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 the Salesian stone-and-wood house built for John Paul II, which is surrounded by larches and fir trees and 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 the past the pope has said that vacations are almost a necessity because of the frenetic activity of modern day life.
In an Angelus address in 2005, Benedict said that ''in the world we live in today, taking time to rest the body and soul has become almost a necessity, especially for those who live in cities, where living conditions, often frenetic, leave little room for silence, reflection and relaxation in tune with nature.''
Holidays, he added, ''are also days in which more time can be dedicated to prayer, reading and meditation on the depth of life, while surrounded by one's own family and loved ones.''
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.
John Paul II spent 10 summer holidays in Les Combes between 1984 and 2004, enjoying the mountain air and, in his younger years, going for long hikes.
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