Piazza del Quirinale

Piazza del Quirinale sits on the Quirinal, the highest of Rome's seven hills, between the Monti and Trevi districts. Locals also call it Piazza di Monte Cavallo after the colossal antique marble Dioscuri at its centre: Castor and Pollux with their horses, Roman copies of Greek originals that have stood here since antiquity. In 1786 Pius VI added an Egyptian obelisk taken from the Mausoleum of Augustus between them, and later an antique basin from the Forum. The square is dominated by the Quirinal Palace - begun in 1583 as the papal summer residence, since 1947 the official seat of the Italian president. Today you come for the long view over Rome's rooftops all the way to St Peter's, the changing of the Corazzieri guard, and Sunday concerts by the presidential orchestra.