It was commissioned in 1573 by the 1500 Pope Gregory
XIII chose this superb site as a papal summer residence. The palace
assumed its present form only in 1730. Domenico Fontana designed
the façade, Maderno the chapel and Bernini the narrow wing
that runs the length of Via del Quirinale. Since 1870 it became
the residence of the kings then, in 1947 of the President of the
Republic.