Quirinal Palace
One palace has housed 30 popes, 4 kings, and 12 presidents — power kept changing tenants, never the address.
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It crowns the Quirinal, highest of Rome's seven hills, and sprawls across 1,200 rooms and 110,500 m2 — the eleventh-largest palace on earth. Pope Gregory XIII built it as a summer escape in 1583; it's now the president's official residence.
What to look for
- In the piazza, a fountain of the twins Castor and Pollux taming horses — which testify that Roman baths built under Constantine once stood here.
- The Corazzieri (Cuirassiers), the president's honor guard, posted outside the palace.
- Inside, the Pauline Chapel — built to the exact size and shape of the Sistine Chapel — and Melozzo da Forlì's 'Blessing Christ' fresco over the stairs.
This is the president's working residence, not a standard museum — check the official Quirinale site first for visiting access.
Quirinal Palace is one of 40 sights worth the detour in Rome, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Rome pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Rome
- Vatican CityThe world's smallest sovereign state fits in 44 hectares — you cross its border by stepping over a white line.
- ColosseumAround 50,000 Romans packed this stone oval to watch spectacles staged over a two-level warren of cages beneath the arena floor.
- St. Peter's BasilicaThe world's largest church, built directly over the grave believed to hold St. Peter's bones.
- Sistine ChapelMichelangelo painted the ceiling standing up, not on his back — and cardinals still elect the pope in this room.
- PantheonA 1,900-year-old concrete dome with a hole punched in the top — when it rains in Rome, it rains inside too.
- Stadio OlimpicoOne 70,634-seat bowl, two cross-town tenants: AS Roma and SS Lazio both play here.