Quirinal Hill

The Colle Quirinale is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, north-east of the city center. The Italian Head of State resides in the Quirinal Palace on this hill. It was originally part of a group of hills that included Collis Latiaris, Mucialis (or Sanqualis), Salutaris. These are now lost due to building in the 16th century and later.

Sabines
According to Roman legend, the Hill was the site of a small village of the Sabines, and king Titus Tatius would have lived there after the peace between Romans and Sabines. These Sabines had erected altars in the honor of their god Quirinus (naming the hill by this god). Tombs from the 8th century BC to the 7th century BC that confirm a likely presence of a Sabine settlement area have been discovered; on the hill, there was the tomb of Quirinus, which Lucius Papirius Cursor transformed into a temple for his triumph after the third Samnite war.

Some authors consider it possible that the cult of the Capitoline Triad (Jove, Minerva, Juno) could have been celebrated here well before it became associated with the Capitoline Hill. The sanctuary of Flora, an Osco-sabine goddess, was here too. According to Livy, the hill first became part of the city of Rome, along with the Viminal Hill, during the reign of Servius Tullius, Rome' sixth king, in the 6th century BC.

Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages, the Torre delle Milizie and the convent of St. Peter and Domenic were built, and above Constantine's building was erected the Palazzo Rospigliosi; the two famous colossal marble statues of the "Horse Tamers", generally identified as the Dioscuri with horses, which now are in the Piazza Quirinale, were originally in this Palazzo. They gave to the Quirinal its medieval name Monte Cavallo, which lingered into the 19th century, when the hill was transformed beyond all recognition by urbanization of an expanding capital of a united Italy. In the same palazzo were also the two statues of river gods that Michelangelo moved to the steps of Palazzo Senatorio on the Capitoline Hill. According to the political division of the center of Rome, the Hill belongs to the rione Trevi.

Database entry
''Situated north-east of the city centre, Quirinale is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. Tombs from the 8th and 7th century B.C.E. have been found here, confirming theories of its existence as a Sabine settlement before being assimilated by Rome. Constantine I had his lavish private baths built here as well, although all that remain are a few drawings.''