Italian Coins 500 Lire 1992 Quirinal Palace
Obverse: Goddess winged head, allegorical representation of the Italian Republic, at center; country name around the ring, star below.
Lettering: REPVBBLICA ITALIANA CRETARA
Engraver: Laura Cretara.
Reverse: General view of Quirinale Palace and Castor and Pollux statue seen from Piazza del Quirinale in Rome at center; face value ("L. 500") in braille at top, wheat spike on left side, olive branch on right side and face value at bottom of the ring.
Lettering: R 1985 L. 500.
Engraver: Laura Cretara.
The coin has been minted in 130.000.000 of examples.
Edge: Alternating smooth and reeded segments.
Years: 1982-2001.
Value: 500 Lire (500 ITL).
Composition: Bi-Metallic Bronzital center in Acmonital ring.
Weight: 6.8 g.
Diameter: 25.8 mm.
Thickness: 1.8 mm.
Shape: Round.
The Quirinal Palace (known in Italian as the Palazzo del Quirinale or simply Quirinale) is a Renaissance palazzo on the Quirinal Hill in the Trevi district in Rome, one of the three current official residences of the President of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and tenuta di Castelporziano. It is located on the Quirinal Hill, the highest of the seven hills of Rome. It has housed thirty Popes, four Kings of Italy and twelve presidents of the Italian Republic. The palace extends for an area of 110,500 square metres and is the 9th largest palace in the world in terms of area. By way of comparison, the White House complex in the United States is one-twentieth of its size.
At the moment it its the seat of the President of Italy, but it started its existence as the summer residence of Pope Gregory XIII, who had it constructed here (in 1573) to escape from the malaria, which was a big problem in the environment of the Vatican city area during the hottest months of the year.
The first Pope who actually lived in the Palazzo del Quirinale was Clemens VIII in 1592.
Before the palazzo was built, a villa stood on top of this, Rome’s highest, hill. This villa was owned first by Cardinal Oliviero Carafa and then by a son of Lucrezio Borgia, Ippolito d’Este.
It was not until around the year 1735 that the Quirinal Palace started to look the way we can admire it nowadays. Several architects, including Carlo Maderno and Gianlorenzo Bernini, contributed to the final result.
In the times of Napoleon two different Popes (Pius VI and Pius VII) were abducted from the Quirinal Palace by the French army. The palazzo stayed in French hands until Napoleon’s defeat and the Pope was allowed to return (1814).
Until the end of the Papal State in 1870 the Quirinal Palace continued to function as the summer residence of the Popes, 22 of whom actually died and 4 of whom were elected there (in the Capella Paolina).
In 1870 Rome became the Italian capital, the Quirinal was to be the Royal Palace and Pope Pius IX had to vacate the premises, which he did, albeit taking the keys so the gates had to be opened with crowbars.
The Italian Kings lived in the Quirinal until a referendum (2 June 1946) caused the abolishment of the monarchy and Italy became a Republic.
The Quirinal Palace then became the official residence of the President. From 1962 until 1978 the presidents actually lived there, but at the moment it only has a ceremonial function.
Castor and Pollux
In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers, together known as the Dioskouri. Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus, who seduced Leda in the guise of a swan. Though accounts of their birth are varied, they are sometimes said to have been born from an egg, along with their twin sisters and half-sisters Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra.
In Latin the twins are also known as the Gemini or Castores. When Castor was killed, Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his own immortality with his twin to keep them together, and they were transformed into the constellation Gemini. The pair were regarded as the patrons of sailors, to whom they appeared as St. Elmo's fire, and were also associated with horsemanship.
They are sometimes called the Tyndaridae or Tyndarids, later seen as a reference to their father and stepfather Tyndareus.