Sorry, I couldn't get on to blogger for the past few days, but that is ok because my dad finally realized that I can't spend the morning walking around Rome and then go and swim hard at practice, so now it is just little adventures then swimming. The big adventures are for the weekends. So, last weekend my friend Marco took me to see Il Palazzo del Quirinal. It used to be the summer homes for the popes and is now the residence of the King of Italy. The palace was started in 1583 by Pope Gregory XIII. It was built on the tallest of the seven hills of Rome so that the pope could see and be seen by all of Rome. Gregory XIII did not live to see it completed, isn't that sad when that happens?, Pope Sixtus V (1587) continued the building of the palazzo but he too didn't live to see it finished as he died in 1590. The next pope to take over didn't do any building to the palazzo so we won't even mention his name. Pope Paul V became pope in 1605 and he continued the vision of Gregory and Sixtus. The palazzo wasn't fully finished until the 18th century when Clemente XII. There are many chapels in Quirinal Palace, the most famous is the Chapel of the Annunciation. It was built by Sixtus V and has beautiful frescos painted by Guido Reni. Pauline chapel, built by Pope Paul V, obviously, has frescos by Martini Ferabosco, but this isn't as big or as grand as the Annunciation Chapel.(I didn't take any photos because I felt funny using my camera so I will find some links for you)
September of 1870 the Papal States were overthrown, basically the popes lost their power over the people, and Italy became a Kingdom. Now the Palazzo is home to the king of Italy. A funny fact, not all the kings have lived there. Most keep living in their own homes and the Palazzo is mostly used as a meeting center. It has also been used as a papal conclave several times, this is when all the College of Cardinals meet to elect a new pope. Another thing that I have noticed is that quite a few popes didn't live very long, I wonder if they were killed to make room for another pope. Um........Christian Cardinal killing a pope to become pope, I am pretty sure that happened.
Ok, now the fun stuff. This house was AMAZING!!!!!!!! The palace was HUGE, there must have been at least 30 or more rooms. Imagine it, each room with gold leaf ceilings, marble everything, and the chandeliers having real crystals. This was about what every room looked like, plus paintings and sculptures. This Palace was more like a museum or gallery than a home, must have been nice to be a pope, on second thought, I would be afraid that I would spill juice on a 1000 year old rug and break some priceless artifact.
When we were there, we also saw a free cello concert, the musician was easily the best cellist in the world. It was a really amazing place and I had a great, jaw dropping time.
Ciao ciao
This album is called "Living like a pope"
Central courtyard
Gold gilded ceilings with frescos
Oh, the ceilings? Yes, we are thinking of having them redone, they are a bit dated.
One of the smaller lounges
You have to admit, those popes loved the bling bling
Annunciation Chapel
Can you say dizzy. This is the ceiling of The Pauline Chapel, where we had the free cello concert.
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