Suite Oriani
a classy town house
in one of most
exclusive
quarters
in the heart
of Rome,
the Parioli-Villa Borghese.

Scenic Route Villa Borghese - Piazza del Popolo - Piazza di Spagna - Via Veneto
The Suite Oriani is inserted in one of the most lovely and charming scenic routes of the capital, a course that takes you from Villa Borghese through Campo Marzio and concludes in Via Veneto.
Departure is from Villa Borghese, reached by a 15 minute walk from Suite Oriani.
Monuments and busts of Italian and foreign personage line this ample park which originated as a garden to the residence that Cardinal Scipione Borghese has constructed at the beginning of 1600.
The first intervention of restructuring of the Villa began at the end of the 18th century when the Piazza of Siena was opened and the Giardino del Lago (Garden of the Lake), with an Ionic temple dedicated to Esclupapio, the god of Health, was landscaped. The hippodrome displays horse races even today.
in the lower part of the Villa the Biological Park hosting the Rome Zoo, structure that was built in 1911 and recently renovated, can be found.
An attraction for both children and adults, hosting about 200 animal species including mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.
From the Piazza of Siena, taking Viale delle Magnolie, you reach Pincio. During the systemization of Piazza del Popolo, Giuseppe Valadier organized the park of the same name at the beginning of 1800 on the summit of Pincio hill, with a splendid view overlooking all of Rome and the neoclassical Casina Valadier. Going down towards Viale Gabriele D'Annunzio you arrive in Piazza del Popolo ( its name is derived from the ancient presence of a poplar tree, populus in Latin), whose aspect is due to Valadier who idealized two semicircles adorned with statues and fountains.
In the middle rises the Flaminia obelisk dating back to 1200 B.C., and in 1589, the wishes of Sisto the 5th, placed at the entrance of the three streets of Via del Babuino, Via del Corso and Via di Ripetta which leave the Piazza taking you towards the city center.
Turning your back towards this three street trident you see the Porta del Popolo heir to Porta Flaminia that for a millennium represented an imposing defensive bulwark and sole access to the North part of Rome and whose entire façade was added by Bernini in 1655.
On the right rises Santa Maria del Popolo, constructed between the 11th and 12th century and redone in 1475. Frescoes, decorations, windows, works of art by Pinturicchio and Caravaggio are just some of the splendors which adorn the church. Leaving behind Piazza del Popolo you enter into the enchanting Campo Marzio with its 1700 palaces, alleyways, galleries, tea rooms, antique shops, photographers, boutiques and all that has made of it one of the most crowded and visited areas of tourism in the world.
Via dei Condotti, Via Frattina, Via del Babuino, and Via Margutta are only a handful of celebrated perspectives able to offer intense kaleidoscopic stimulus.
Undisputed points of interest of the sublime Baroque Rome are Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps) where in the middle of it one can admire the original fountain of Baraccia that Bernini realized for Urbano the 8th inserting it into the pavement to remedy the low water pressure, and the Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti (Stairway of the Trinity of the Mounts) which De Sanctis rose in 1700 to resolve the large difference in height of the Piazza and the Pincio. The ramps, lined with blooming azaleas in spring, give a lovely frame to the Church of the Trinità and the fashion shows presented here. Following onto Via dei Due Macelli you arrive in Via del Tritone where in the immediate vicinity stands one of the most important symbols of the Eternal City, the Fountain of Trevi.
Its name derives from trivio (crossroads) an extraordinary 1700's setting of harmonious fusion of architectural and sculptural elements.
The fountain's designer, Salvi, placed the statue of Oceano on a coach in the middle pulled by seahorses created by Pietro Bracci, animated by the reefs and jets of water which fall into the large basin where, according to tradition, if you throw a coin into the fountain your return to Rome will be assured.
At the other end of Via Tritone is Piazza Barberini where you can see the palace of the same name and the splendid Fountain of the Tritons, that Bernini created for Urbano the 8th, decorating the center of the Square. The Fountain delle Api (bees) at the corner of Via Veneto, also done by Bernini, is represented with the coat of arms with the bees of the Barberini family.
Going up to the left you find Via Veneto, world famous for the celebrated film of Federico Fellini "La Dolce Vita", which described the sweet life of Roman society in the 1960's with cafés, designer shops and restaurants that lined the via, and today, throbbing heart of a world with no frontiers.
At the end of the uphill you see Porta Pinciana, ancient door giving access to the old Via Salaria (old frontage road) that separates Villa Borghese from Via Veneto.
It is a simple door but with a curious military characteristic; the Byzantine Belisario whose bust is mounted in the wall, positioned the entrance arch between two towers at an angle in respect to the axis of the walls in a way that the enemy would discover his side covered by a shield after having to turn suddenly in order to enter.

The Auditorium
The grand complex Auditorium Parco della Musica (Auditorium Music Park) done by the Architect Renzo Piano, opened its doors on April 21st, 2002 with a twofold objective.
From a cultural point of view the new structure was destined to fill the enormous gap felt by the closing, more than sixty years ago, of the grand concert hall, above the Mausoleum of Augustus, which, for more than a century represented one of the most important music centers in Europe.
From an urbanistic point of view it was fundamental to reconstruct it with an organic orographic link to the existing landscape, attempting to eliminate the fracture that had occurred between the inferior layers of the Parioli hills and the fluvial flatlands on which the Olympic Village rises.
The Auditorium was an occasion for re-qualifying, with the main objective of guaranteeing urban and territorial dignity at the crossroads of the two areas, each one possessing its own identity and a model of everyday life. In the 55,000 square meters stand the three Music Halls, or "Casse Armoniche" (Harmonic Houses), creating a sequence of different dimensions but all belonging to the same architectural family. All of the spaces, both inside and out, have been thought of in a functional manner regarding music. For music activities, not only do three halls of large, medium and small exist but there is also an audition hall, a foyer, and an open air cavea. Renzo Piano recounts that the most fulfilling venture of an architect is that of constructing a concert hall and compared it to that of a lute maker creating a violin. I have often had occasions to construct for music purposes: from the Institute for the Acoustic Music Research in Paris with Pierre Boulez and Luciano Berio, to the Prometeo with Luigi Nono, from the Hall of Berlin to the Potsdamer Platz, from the hall of Lingotto in Torino to the Hall of Niccolò Paganini in Parma and now the Auditorium in Rome. In all of these projects, music has always been the center of attention: working with acoustics, working with musicians. The maestro Abbado, Riccardo Nuti, but even great jazz artists like John Scofield are only a few of the great names who have given Rome concerts the entire world could envy.

Museums
Living in the Parioli offers the immediate possibility to visit at least three important museum complexes. The Museum and Gallery Borghese are located in the little building Borghese that Cardinal Scipione had built inside the Villa of the same name; they have been defined as " the queen of the private collection of the world" and they are divided into a plentiful collection of materials of classic epoch, and a picture gallery, completed by important examples of Baroque and neoclassical sculpture.
Works of art by Caravaggio Raffaello, Tiziano, Bernini, Canova, Botticelli, Pinturicchio and other painters from the Ferrara area, can be admired here.
The Etruscan Museum in Villa Giulia has a collection which bear witness to the civility which blossomed between the Iron age and the Roman epoch, in particular in the northwest area of the Lazio region between the Tevere and Tuscany. The findings are illustrated through objects that were locally produced and through imported works, primarily Greek. Villa Giulia hosts manneristic cultural examples by the wishes of Giulio the third in the 16th century, whose original project was revised more than once by Michelangelo.
The National Gallery of Modern Art, instituted in 1883, is dedicated above all to Italian painters and sculptors from the 19th and 20th centuries, but even the best foreign artists are present here. It is hosted in the Palazzo delle Belle Arti (Palace of Fine Arts), a building which rises in the Valley Guilia, done in the second decade of the 1900's for the occasion of the grand International Exposition. Works of art by Morandi, De Chirico, Sironi, Guttuso, Cèzanne, Mirò, Kandinsky, Monet and Van Gogh can be found here.

The Villas
Besides Villa Borghese other splendid parks range over the urban area, at one time past residences to royalty, of great historical and naturalistic interest.
Villa Ada is the largest, and even the most savage, with thick pinewoods, cypresses, and rare species of exotic trees like the Sophora Japonica, or l'Albero delle Collane.
It was the private residence of King Vittorio Emanuele the 2nd, and today it is open to the public. You can also find an elegant stable here. The walls which face Via Salaria also face the catacombs of Priscilla, some of the most ancient in Rome, with paintings and inscriptions from the 3rd century.
Enchanting also the Villa Balestra, aspect and origin of the 1500's, Villa Torlonia, neoclassical complex projected by Valadier in 1800 and Villa Glori, thick pine forest with a stable and playground park for children.

Via Barnaba Oriani, 92 - 00197 Rome Italy - Mobile: +39 328.28.43.410 - Ph. +39 06.32.18.353
Fax: +39.06.97.25.05.81 - on skype: suite.oriani
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