London, March 28 (IANS/RIA Novosti): Pope Francis has opted to stay at a modest two-room residence instead of moving to a grand papal apartment on the top floor of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, his spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said.

The Pope decided to stay in the Domus Santa Marta modern hotel-style residence inside the Vatican City, where he lived with other cardinals during the conclave that saw him elected earlier in the month.

"This morning (Wednesday) he let his fellow cardinals know that he will keep living with them for a certain period of time," Lombardi was quoted as saying by BBC.

Lombardi explained the Pope's decision as a desire for "a simpler living".

Having refused to move to the palatial penthouse apartment with more than a dozen rooms, staff quarters and a large terrace, Pope Francis broke an over century old tradition.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires was elected the 266th pope by the conclave of cardinals March 13, becoming the first Latin American to lead the Catholic Church.