The Quirinal Palace (Italian: Palazzo del Quirinale [paˈlattso del kwiriˈnaːle]) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, the main official residence of the President of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and the Tenuta di Castelporziano, an estate on the outskirts of Rome, some 25 km (16 mi) from the centre of the city.

During the reign of Constantine the Great, the last complex of Roman baths was built here, as the statues of the twins Castor and Pollux taming the horses decorating the fountain in the square testify.

The Quirinal, being the highest hill in Rome, was much sought after and became a popular location for the Roman patricians, who built luxurious villas there.

The Pope, who wanted to find a location which was far away from the humidity and stench coming from the River Tiber and likewise the unhealthy conditions of the Lateran Palace, chose the Quirinal hill as it was one of the most suitable places in Rome.

However, it is still recognisable in the north part of the courtyard, especially in the double loggia facade, topped by the panoramic Torre dei Venti (tower of the winds) or Torrino.

This was the throne room of the papal palace, where ambassadors and dignitaries were received and public audiences were held.

Today, the room serves for public audiences, receptions, and solemn ceremonies held by the Presidency of the Republic.

It is one among the rooms formerly part of the papal private apartments, today hosting informal meetings of the president of the republic on occasion.

The Yellow Room was once part of a seventy-meter long gallery built by Pope Alexander VII, later ordered split by Napoleon to serve as Empress's private residence.

The name of the room derives from the tapestries on display, made on Agnolo Bronzino's own design.

The Quirinal Gardens, famous for the privileged position that makes them almost an "island" elevated above Rome, were, over the centuries, changed depending on the tastes and needs of the papal court.

The current arrangement complements the garden "formal" seventeenth century facing the original core of the building with the garden "romantic" in the second half of the eighteenth century, preserving at that time the elegant Coffee House built by Ferdinando Fuga as reception room of Benedict XIV Lambertini, decorated by paintings of Pompeo Batoni and Giovanni Paolo Pannini.

The organ is fed by a waterfall with a jump of 18 meters and has a single keyboard of 41 notes with a first short octave, without pedalboard.

[7] By means of a trap door located in the gardens, entry can be gained to the archaeological excavations that have unearthed the remains of the original temple to the god Quirinus and some insulae of the imperial age.