Two Towers between the sacred and profane

An alley to find himself at home in the heart, to live the experience of a stay in the capital, feeling, at least for a few days, Roman by adoption. A few steps from the Tiber winding tree-lined promenade between the buildings near the arches of the Ponte Cavour, l 'Hotel Due Torri is resplendent in the midst of the trident into the sunset. Behind Montecitorio, 26 rooms and apartments occupy an entire hall.

"The Two Towers do not have, we love," says Cynthia Pighin, who own the hotel and Fontanella Borghese, a few steps further. "In 1972, when my family purchased the auction hall, we knew that inside was all over again. But we were aware of the charm that this structure emanated independently, like a smell of history." The hotel is spread in height but the interiors give the feeling of comfortable space. Arches and light walls, wooden chairs and armchairs, a secretary for connoisseurs, antique mirrors, which seeks the looks of the past, precious inlaid furniture, lampshades sought by antique statues and watercolors, noble fabrics on the windows. "And then the rooms: I kept the wood where possible, in compliance with fire regulations. At every floor there is a small apartment: two bedrooms and a bathroom for people traveling with your family and want a little more privacy . Little by little you feel part of the site. You begin to feel, literally, a 'fil rouge' which tells the story of this building hidden among the houses and at the beginning of a path that always ends on a spectacular flight of the Spanish Steps.

Outside, the Pompeian red plaster almost do not notice, as blended harmoniously with the colors of the street. But then, inside, the preponderance of red, purple, mahogany becomes enveloping. And it turns out that precisely those walls have stood in 1518, the Bell Inn, in the long residence of cardinals, bishops, prelates and dignitaries of Rome of a bygone era. "And then, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the site of a famous" home of pleasure "which closed its doors with the law Merlin," said Mrs. Pighini. Sacred and profane together as part of the red there might be better to emphasize elements so discordant, yet united by a simple color?

And just what color cast, which transmits sound, vigor and prosperity, comes to the guests. With a captivating effect. You feel part of an era refined, yet not lost. Who then finds himself, looking out from their room, on the roofs of Rome.