Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi

The Palazzo Pallavicini Rospigliosi lies on Via XXIV Maggio at the foot of the Quirinal Hill, just steps from the presidential palace. Built from 1611 for Cardinal Scipione Borghese, it later passed to the Rospigliosi family after their relative was elected Pope Clement IX in 1667, and then by marriage to the Pallavicini. The garden's Casino dell'Aurora is famous for Guido Reni's 1614 ceiling fresco of Aurora driving the chariot of the dawn, a key work of Roman early Baroque painting. The palace contains one of the largest private art collections in Rome but opens only a few days a year; the Casino opens free on the first of every month, which always produces long queues.