HOTEL BERNINI BRISTOL

HOTEL BERNINI BRISTOL

Piazza Barberini 23

1874 Francesco Azzurri (1831/1901) who also designed the Palace of the Republic of S. Marino

It is one of the oldest hotels in Rome

Rebuilt in 1943 by Ettore Rossi (1894/1968) one of the architects of the EUR district, in rationalist style contrasting greatly with the other buildings in Piazza Barberini and generating quite a lot of negative criticism

As soon as it was rebuilt it was immediately occupied by the Nazis and then by the American Red Cross until 1946, when its hotel function was restored

FOUNTAIN OF THE BEES

FONTANA DELLE API

Piazza Barberini

1644 Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) for Urban VIII Barberini (1623/44) with the famous bees symbol of his family

Originally in the coat of arms there were horseflies, but then they thought that bees would have been much more dignified for an ambitious family

The fountain was removed in 1880 from its original location in Via Sistina and abandoned in a warehouse where it crumbled

It was reconstructed here in 1917 by Adolfo Apolloni (1855/1923) with only a fragment of the original shell with one bee

Bernini had carved the number XXII as year of the pontificate of Urban VIII when there were still two months to the completion of the 22nd year. This was considered a bad omen and then the figure was changed to XXI. Too late: the pope died eight days before arriving to the fateful anniversary