Discover Piazza and Palazzo del Quirinale

The piazza stands on the summit of the Quirinal, the highest of the seven hills, so called because the temple of Quirinus, or the city of the Curii, once stood there — the place from which, by legend, Titius Tatius's Sabines moved to settle on this height.

At the centre of the square, on high pedestals, rise the colossal statues of the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, the divine twins holding their rearing horses by the bridle. The marble groups are Roman reworkings of the imperial age, after a Greek original of the 5th century BC.

On the right side of the square stands Palazzo della Consulta, erected in 1732 by Ferdinando Fuga, commissioned by Pope Clement XII for the tribunal of the Sacra Consulta, and today the seat of the Constitutional Court.

And in the square, under the watchful eye of the Corazzieri, rises the Palazzo del Quirinale, which since 1946 has been the symbol-place of the life of the Italian Republic and the seat of the Presidency of the Republic, after being, for over three centuries, the summer residence of the popes and then the home of the kings of Italy.

The site was occupied long before any of that. Its elevated position and particular healthiness meant it held residential nuclei and important public and religious buildings from antiquity, among them the Temple of Serapis, built by Caracalla in 217 AD, from which the sculptural group of the Dioscuri comes.

Its size is the fact people remember. With a surface of 110,500 square metres, it is the sixth largest palace in the world, twenty times bigger than the White House, and an attraction in its own right for the beauty of its architecture — the work of Domenico Fontana, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who created here the striking Loggia delle Benedizioni.

Three of the biggest names in Roman architecture worked on it. Turismo Roma attributes the beauty of the palace's architecture to Domenico Fontana, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and singles out what Bernini made here: the striking Loggia delle Benedizioni.

Its dimensions are the governing fact. With a surface of 110,500 square metres, it is the sixth largest palace in the world, twenty times bigger than the White House.

The square is a designed ensemble, not a leftover space. At its centre, on high pedestals, stand the colossal statues of the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, the divine twins holding their rearing horses by the bridle — Roman reworkings of the imperial age after a Greek original of the 5th century BC, which came from the Temple of Serapis built by Caracalla in 217 AD.

Its right-hand side belongs to another architect. Palazzo della Consulta was erected in 1732 by Ferdinando Fuga, commissioned by Clement XII for the tribunal of the Sacra Consulta, and is today the seat of the Constitutional Court.

The garden architecture is Fuga's too. At one of the panoramic points of the park stands the elegant Coffee House, made by the architect Ferdinando Fuga in the 18th century, from whose terrace one looks on the sixteenth-century Fontana dell'Organo, whose mechanism — though modernised — is still perfectly working.

The hill was chosen before the palace was imagined. The site has held residential nuclei and important public and religious buildings since antiquity, because of its elevated position and particular healthiness — the practical reasons a Roman built high.

It reused what was already on the hill. The Temple of Serapis, built by Caracalla in 217 AD, is where the sculptural group of the Dioscuri came from; the figures themselves are Roman imperial reworkings of a Greek original of the 5th century BC, so the square's centrepiece is twice removed from its first making.

The palace was built by succession, not by one campaign. Its architecture is the work of Domenico Fontana, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini — three generations of Roman practice, with Bernini contributing the Loggia delle Benedizioni.

Each occupant added to it. Over three centuries as a papal summer residence, then as the dwelling of the kings of Italy, then since 1946 as the seat of the Presidency, the building accumulated the tapestries, carriages, clocks and some 38,000 pieces of porcelain that make up its collections.

And it was still being added to in 2019. "Quirinale Contemporaneo" brought hundreds of paintings, sculptures and installations by the great names of the twentieth century into stable placement in the courtyards, the halls and the gardens, along with wide space for Italian design.

Can I visit the palace? There are no published opening hours. Turismo Roma says to check the calendar of visits on the official site, palazzo.quirinale.it.

How much does it cost? No price is published. The piazza itself is free and always open.

When is the changing of the guard? Every Sunday, performed by the Corazzieri with the band of the Guardia di Finanza.

How big is the palace? 110,500 square metres — the sixth largest palace in the world, twenty times bigger than the White House.

Who lived here? For over three centuries the popes, as a summer residence, then the kings of Italy, and since 1946 it has been the seat of the Presidency of the Republic.

Who built it? Its architecture is the work of Domenico Fontana, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who created here the Loggia delle Benedizioni.

What are the statues in the square? The colossal Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, holding their rearing horses by the bridle — Roman imperial reworkings of a Greek original of the 5th century BC, which came from the Temple of Serapis built by Caracalla in 217 AD.

What is the building on the right of the square? Palazzo della Consulta, erected in 1732 by Ferdinando Fuga for Clement XII's tribunal of the Sacra Consulta, today the Constitutional Court.

Why is the hill called the Quirinal? Because the temple of Quirinus, or the city of the Curii, once stood there; by legend the Sabines of Titius Tatius moved from it to settle on this height. It is the highest of the seven hills.

What is in the collections? Ancient and modern statues and paintings, tapestries of inestimable value, carriages of fine manufacture, precious clocks whose oldest go back to the age of Louis XIV, and about 38,000 pieces of porcelain.

Is there modern art? Yes, since 2019, with "Quirinale Contemporaneo": hundreds of works by twentieth-century names placed stably in the courtyards, halls and gardens, plus a wide section on Italian design.

What about the gardens? About 4 hectares, going back to the 16th century, with the Coffee House by Ferdinando Fuga and the sixteenth-century Fontana dell'Organo, whose mechanism still works perfectly.