VaviTour - Rome Tour Guide

Palazzo Zuccari is one of the most famous and mysterious examples of late XVI century architecture inspired by Manierism and the monster-like decorations are for sure references to those in the Bomarzo gardens. The monster doorway in Zuccari’s mind wanted to represent some sort of Dante’s “Inferno” gate, a way to surprise and frighten the visitors of his palazzo, ready to enjoy the instead Paradisiac gardens once inside. The painter Zuccari spent all his life and money to built this amazing studio-palazzo!

Black eagle & golden dragon: the crest of the Borghese family dominates all their properties, so it’s pretty easy to bump into one of them strolling around. Their fame and power arose enormously during the XVII century with the Pope Paul V Borghese and his adopted nephew Scipione, owner and creator of the famous collection that we still admire at the Borghese Gallery.
The Borghese family still exists and the main branch of the family lives in a wing of the still private Borghese Palace, in the Spanish square area.
🔍Vignette: Pope Paul V Borghese was nicknamed “Fontefice” from the Italian term “pontefice” that means Pope but switching the initial into “font” from “fountain” to remember the many fountains he built all over the city.