8o 



THE GARDENS OF ITALY. 



came to Rome and, being very learned, was set to expound the Fathers to the Abbot of 

 SS. Apostoli, the monastery which lies just below the hill. He remained a long time as his guest, 

 and the abbot and the imperious monk formed a firm friendship. No doubt they often walked 

 in the Colonna Gardens, and Peretti, when he became Sixtus V in 1585, had learned to love 

 the high, healthy air of the Quirinal hill. Gregory XIII had already begun building there, and 

 Sixtus carried on and extended his plans, and so was built the palace in which till 1870 the 



91. THE WESTERN GARDEN. 



Popes resided for a part of every year. It was already a favourite site for gardens. Beside, 

 those of Cardinal d'Este, Cardinal Carafa's gardens stretched along the site of the modern 

 Via XX Settembre. It soon became the fashion to build summer palaces on the Quirinal hills 

 as being healthier than the lower levels of Rome, and safer than journeying beyond the walls. 

 Sixtus V died here, and since his time twenty-one other Popes have also died at the Quirinal, each 

 making the curious bequest of his heart and viscera to the Church of SS. Vincent and Anastasius. 



