San Silvestro al Quirinale

San Silvestro al Quirinale (or St. Sylvester on Quirinal Hill) is a historic church in central Rome, Italy. It is located near Via XXIV Maggio corner with Via Mazzarino, a few blocks south of the Piazza del Quirinale.

The first mentions of a church on the site are from 1039, when it was called Santo Stefano in Cavallo in recognition of its site on Monte Cavallo, a small hill in the Campo Marzio.

In 1507, the church was granted to the Dominicans of the Florentine Congregation of St Mark by Pope Julius II. It was rebuilt in 1524-1584, when it was taken over by the Theatine Order. The high altar was consecrated in 1584 by Bishop Thomas Goldwell of St. Asaph's in North Wales, the last Catholic bishop in England under Queen Mary Tudor's reign. In 1801, San Silvestro was granted to the Lazarists, having been abandoned by the Theatines some years before.

In the period when conclaves to elect a new Pope were held at the Quirinal Palace, the inaugural procession of the Cardinals started from this church. When the street was widened in 1877, the 16th century façade was replaced. The old façade had been simple, while the present one, by Andrea Busiri Vici, is more decorated. There is a small garden outside the church, with a 16th-century oratory that was used in funerals. The façade, decorated in stucco, is original.

The renaissance interior is almost completely covered with paintings. There is a long, vaulted choir behind the altar. In the ceiling is a fresco from the late 16th century by Giovanni and Cherubino Alberti. On the left wall is a fresco by Lazzaro Baldi, depicting St Gaetano and the Blessed Virgin. On the counterfacade of the entrance is the funeral monument of Cardinal Federico Cornaro (1531–1590) attributed to Giacomo della Porta. To the left of the monument to Prospero Farinacci is a painting of Saints Peter and Paul by Stefano Pozzi.

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