From Piazza Venezia to the Quirinale, the seat of the Presidency of the Italian Republic
In the foreground, you can see the sweeping expanse of Piazza Venezia. On the short side of the square, you can see the seventeenth-century Palazzo Bonaparte, inhabited from 1818 by Napoleon’s mother, Letizia Ramolino. Continuing to the right, that is eastwards, you will find via del Corso: this street connects Piazza Venezia to Piazza del Popolo, retracing the stretch of the ancient via Flaminia that cut straight through the city, which, in antiquity and the Middle Ages, was called the via Lata.
On the eastern side of Piazza Venezia is the Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali. This building was designed at the beginning of the twentieth century by Giuseppe Sacconi, the architect of the Vittoriano, as the twin of Palazzo Venezia.
Next to the Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali, recent excavations have brought to light the remains of Hadrian’s Auditorium, an imposing public building from the second century.
Moving your gaze eastwards, you can admire the sixteenth-century church of Santa Maria di Loreto and, in the background, the Quirinal Palace, topped by the sixteenth-century tower by architect Ottaviano Mascherino. For a long time this building was the pontifical residence, but since 1946, the palazzo has been the seat of the President of the Italian Republic.
