TheQuirinal Hill (/ˈkwɪrɪnəl/;Latin:Collis Quirinalis;Italian:Quirinale[kwiriˈnaːle]) is one of theSeven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian head of state, who resides in theQuirinal Palace; bymetonymy "the Quirinal" has come to stand for the Italian president. The Quirinal Palace has an area of 1.2 million sq ft (11 ha; 28 acres).
According to Roman legend, the Quirinal Hill was the site of a small village of theSabines, and kingTitus Tatius would have lived there after the peace between Romans and Sabines. These Sabines had erectedaltars in the honour of theirgodQuirinus (naming the hill by this god).[citation needed]
Tombs from the 8th century BC to the 7th century BC that confirm a likely presence of a Sabine settlement area have been discovered; on the hill, there was the tomb of Quirinus, whichLucius Papirius Cursor transformed into atemple for histriumph after the thirdSamnite war. Some authors consider it possible that the cult of theCapitoline Triad (Jove,Minerva,Juno) could have been celebrated here well before it became associated with theCapitoline Hill. The sanctuary ofFlora, anOsco-Sabinegoddess, was here too.[1]
According toLivy, the hill first became part of the city of Rome, along with theViminal Hill, during the reign ofServius Tullius, Rome' sixth king, in the 6th century BC.[2]
In 446 BC, a temple was dedicated on the Quirinal in honour ofSancus, and it is possible that this temple was erected over the ruins of another temple.Augustus, too, ordered the building of a temple, dedicated toMars. On a slope of the Quirinal were the extensivegardens of Sallust.
On the Quirinal HillConstantine the Great ordered the erection ofhis baths, the lastthermae complex erected inimperial Rome. These are now lost, having been incorporated into Renaissance Rome, with only some drawings from the 16th century remaining.
In theMiddle Ages, theTorre delle Milizie and the convent of St. Peter and Domenic were built, and above Constantine's building was erected thePalazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi; the two famous colossal marble statues of theHorse Tamers, generally identified as theDioscuri with horses, which now are in the Piazza Quirinale, were originally in this palazzo. They gave to the Quirinal its medieval nameMonte Cavallo, which lingered into the 19th century, when the hill was transformed beyond all recognition by urbanization of an expanding capital of a united Italy. In the same palazzo were also the two statues of river gods thatMichelangelo moved to the steps ofPalazzo Senatorio on the Capitoline Hill.
According to the political division of the center of Rome, the Hill belongs to therioneTrevi.
The Quirinal Hill is today identified with theQuirinal Palace, the official residence of thePresident of the Italian Republic in Rome, and one of the symbols of the State. Before the abolition of the Italian monarchy in 1946, it was the residence of the king of Italy, and before 1871 it was, as originally, a residence of the Pope.
The healthy[3] cool air of the Quirinal Hill attracted aristocrats and papal families that built villas where thegardens of Sallust had been in antiquity. A visit to the villa of CardinalLuigi d'Este in 1573 convincedPope Gregory XIII to start the building of a summer residence the following year, in an area considered healthier than theVatican Hill orLateran: His architects wereFlaminio Ponzio andOttaviano Nonni, called Mascherino; underPope Sixtus V, works were continued byDomenico Fontana (the main facade on the Piazza) andCarlo Maderno, and byGian Lorenzo Bernini forPope Clement XII. Gardens were conceived by Maderno. In the 18th century,Ferdinando Fuga built the long wing called theManica Lunga, which stretched 360 meters along via del Quirinale. In front lies the sloping Piazza del Quirinale where the pair of gigantic Roman marble "Horse Tamers" representingCastor and Pollux, found in the Baths of Constantine, were re-erected in 1588. In a view etched byGiovanni Battista Piranesi, the vast open space is unpaved. The Quirinal Palace was the residence of the popes until 1870, thoughNapoleon deported bothPius VI andPius VII to France, and declared the Quirinal an imperial palace. When Rome was united to theKingdom of Italy, the Quirinal became the residence of the kings until 1946.
Today, the palace hosts the offices and the apartments of the Head of State and, in its long side alongvia XX Settembre (the so-calledManica Lunga), the apartments that were furnished for each visit of foreign monarchs or dignitaries.
Several collections are in this Palazzo, includingtapestries, paintings,statues, oldcarriages (carrozze), watches, furniture, andporcelain.
In Piranesi's view, the palazzo on the right is thePalazzo della Sacra Consulta, originally a villa built upon the ruins of the Baths of Constantine, which was adapted by Sixtus V as a civil and criminal court. The present façade was built in 1732–1734 by the architect Ferdinando Fuga on the orders ofPope Clement XII Corsini, whose coat-of-arms, trumpeted by twoFames, still surmounts the roofline balustrade, as in Piranesi's view. It formerly housed Mussolini's ministry of colonial affairs.
The hill is the site of other important monuments and buildings. Many of those built during thebaroque period reflect the personal and spiritual aspirations of powerful local families:
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