The Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane

It is one of the most beautiful works created by Borromini and, in fact, is rightly considered as a true masterpiece, as well as a direct testimony of Baroque architecture. We are referring to the Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane. It is a famous place of worship which is located in the capital, in Rome, particularly in the Monti district and is part of a convent of the Trinitarians.
A church that was built having in mind who to pay homage, namely the then archbishop of Milan, who in the seventeenth century was Carlo Borromeo. It was soon renamed "San Carlino" by the Roman people, who affectionately dedicated this nickname to it due to its extremely small size. A peculiarity of this church? Inside is the urn that holds the body of Blessed Elisabetta Canori Mora.

The construction

Both the convent and the cloister, and obviously the church, were erected between 1634 and 1644 by Francesco Borromini, a Ticino architect who had already been the protagonist of the construction of other works, as he collaborated in the development of the Barberini palace and the Canopy of St. Peter.
The cloister, among other things, was the first portion of the complex that was designed: everything happened thanks to a flash of genius by Borromini, who started the works in 1635, only to finish nine years later, exactly in the same year in which the facade of the institute was completed, but also the church and one of the quadrangular bell towers. The façade concerning the church on the street, on the other hand, was developed and completed several years later, from 1664 onwards, then towards the end of the century, when the works were also led by his nephew Bernardo Borromini, who inevitably followed the original projects of the famous master.
Despite the pandemic and the health emergency, there is also some advantage in visiting Rome in this period, mainly related to the fact that, without the usual hordes of tourists, you can finally appreciate every side of the city, free from mass tourism. If you want to discover in the best way his various wonderful works, but also if you intend to admire many other representations and works of historical and cultural interest in Rome, the search for an ideal base from which to start the various itineraries and to adopt as a basis for staying can only correspond to the Eitch Borromini. You can only admire the beauty of the Collegio Innocenziano, the Historical Residence where the Eitch is located, which offers rooms and suites of all kinds, all with an above average artistic touch, equipped with wonderful seventeenth-century frescoes, which really seems an ideal solution for all those who do not want to give up art even when they are resting.