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From the artistic point of view the age of baroque was undoubtedly a period which left an important and permanent mark in the eternal city.
Amazing buildings, fountains, squares, churches were build to remark the triumph of the Christian Church, giving to the city a new theatrical look.
The most important artists names of that period are Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini. |
A very interesting itinerary can start from the church of Santa Maria delle Vittorie, where we can find an amazing masterpiece of Bernini, the Estasi of Santa Teresa, moving on to the church of San Carlo delle Quattro Fontane realized by Borromini, in Via del Quirinale and then to the church of San Andrea, in Via del Quirinale as well, once again a masterpiece by Bernini, called the “pearl of baroque” because of the precious materials used in building its structure.
Along the same street we’ll find the Palazzo del Quirinale, previously the summer residence of the Pope. After that it became the luxurious residences of the Savoia Royal Family, and nowadays it is the seat of the President of the Italian Republic. Visitors are welcomed every Sunday morning from 8.30 am to 12.30 am, while, in the square in front of it, the Changing of the Guards will take place every Sunday at 4.00 pm.
Not very far from here, there are the Scuderie Papali, Papals Stables, recently completely restored by the famous architect Gae Aulenti to become an important exhibition centre for the city.
After the Pantheon and the splendid square of Sant’Eustachio with a masterpiece by Borromini, the dome of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza, our itinerary is complete only with the visit to the Vaticano, where the genius of Bernini designed the spectacular colonnade of Piazza San Pietro.
The elliptical shape symbolizing the Church’s embrace of all mankind is defined by a series of 284 marble columns disposed in 4 rows. However if you stand up on one of the two focuses of the ellipse, marked by a granite disk, the colonnade seems to be made of a single row!
Inside the basilica, many masterpieces never cease to amaze the visitors: a huge baldacchino 29 metres high, a Bernini’s creation, realized using the bronze taken from the Pantheon, overstands the altar placed exactly over the spot where, according to the tradition, St. Peter was buried.
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