Quirinal Hill, Rome

Pure barroque architecture. (1634-1641)
This time is Borromini, the imaginative one:
curve lines, light games, ornaments... it's theatre!
In the same street you will find San Andrea, this time a Bernini building.... let's see again the battle: Bernini vs. Borromini.... the best will win!!

Two of my favorite Baroque churches are a block apart from each other on the via del Quirinale. At San Carlo alle Quattre Fontane, designed by Borromini, I had to jump into the street and avoid being run over by scooters in order to take pictures of the four fountains on each corner! The interior of the San Carlo dome is fascinating to look up at. Just down the street is the tiny yet ornate Sant Andrea al Quirinale, by Bernini.

By the 1500s, the Vatican had a reputation as an unhelthy location because of the high incidence of malaria, so Pope Gregory XIII chose this superb site on the highest of Rome's seven hills as a summer residence for the popes. Work began in 1574.
The Piazza del Quirinale has buildings on three sides while the fourth is open, giving a splendid view of the city to the great dome of St Peter's in the distance.
After the unification of Italy in 1870, it became the official residence of the king, then in 1947 of the president of the republic.

At the piazza del Quirinale you will also find the Palazzo del Quirinale. Around 1500 the Vatican was known as a unhealthy place. There was often an outbreak of malaria there.
Pope Gregorius XIII choose to built a summer residence on the highest hill of Rome to escape from it. Building started in 1573. It was rebuilt more than once and in 1735 it got its present shape.
After Italy was united (in 1870) it became the official residence of the king. And in 1947 of the president.
Every day at 16:00 there is a changing of the guards in front of the palace.

The Palazzo is open to the public on sundays from 8:30 to 12:00.
Except: 4 January, 11 April, 25 April, 30 May, 19 December, 26 December, and in the period from 4 July to 5 September.
Entrancefee in 2004 is 5,00 Euro.

Website is in italian only.

In the middle of the Piazza del Quirinale is a huge fountain with Castor and Pollux, gardians of the cavalry, showing of their horses. The statues are 5.5 meters high and are copies of Greek originals from the 5th century. They were once standing at the entrance of the baths of Canstantine. Pope Sixtus V had them restored in 1588 and moved them to the spot they are in today.
The obelisk is from the mausoleum of emperor august and was brought here in 1786. The basin was once a feeding trough at the Forum and was placed here in 1818 to make the fountain complete.

Il Quirinale is located on Quirinale Hill, the highest of the seven ancient hills in Rome. The square is dominated by the Palazzo del Quirinale, started in 1574 and taking on its present appearance in 1730 with the contributions of various architects. It was once the home of popes and kings and, after being abandoned in the Middle Ages, it regained its splendour at the end of the 16th century. Today it is used as the residence of the Italian president and is guarded by the Corazzieri who are selected for their height. You can view the changing of the guard ceremonies daily at 4 p.m.

The huge statues of the dioscuri Castor and Pollux, placed at the fountain in the piazza, were found in the nearby great Baths of Constantine. In 1793 Pius VI moved the Egyptian obelisk here from the Mausoleum of Augustus.

Sun 9am-1pm. Free admission.

Since the President's Palace and seat of government lie on the edge of the Piazza del Quirinale, little displays of changing guards and guardsmen protecting tiny cubicles seem obligatory, but more for the tourists than the needs of state. When I discovered these palaces and this square, I was first taken in by the orange stone, a unique feature in Rome. Later I was "treated" (a humorous euphemism) to the pomp of a military band marching out of the building, around the square, around the corner and into the street, then back into the lower floors -- quite a circuit of nonsense.

Though rifles and ceremonial helmets figure in these small exercises, the composite of changing guards and pompous piping by the military brass bands are merely routine fluff and nonsense for the heads of state in Europe. The horsemen pictured here were likely to slip off their mounts from sheer boredom, until one heeled the horse's belly. This led the horse to step forward and to crop the hair of an Italian woman with her camera poised toward the uniformed players in her front, not to the horse approaching from her rear.