All Rome is a stage. For more than two millennia, she has served as the stunning backdrop for spectacles staged initially by the fathers of the res publica, then by the emperors and finally by the popes. She served as a platform for their dreams of grandeur and immortality as well as for their visions of world domination, infallibility … and exquisite buildings.
Giorgia and Stefano Barbini have likewise chosen this bewitching place as the third, and perhaps most spectacular, mise en scène for their unique vision. A monumental, solemn and marble-sculpted portal through which their international clientele step into the authentic essence of Italy. Crossing the threshold into the Holy Deer San Lorenzo City Lodge, situated directly on Piazza Navona, is like stepping into all the richness of Roman history.
Standing on the little balcony of the Stanza del Papa (Pope’s Room) and watching passersby taking an evening stroll in front of the delightful Fountain of the Four Rivers, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, feels like falling through time. Anyone who looks up at the façade of the baroque Palazzo Pamphilj, which was built by Pope Innocent X in the seventeenth century as a symbol of his family’s power, can’t help but be taken aback by the splendor of this architectural masterpiece. The epochs blur together, leaving behind only the light of the Eternal City and the feeling of being part of something grand. Of something as indefinable and boundless as Rome itself.
Like the legendary phoenix, Rome continually rises out of its own ashes, creating harmony from chaos and conjuring splendor from where ruin and destruction reigned shortly before. Like the medieval alchemists, Giorgia and Stefano Barbini have embraced the city’s capacity for rebirth and created a dream of timelessness, beauty and perfection within their apartment inside the stately Palazzo Pamphilj. They now share this dream, this free interpretation of the Roman spirit, with their selected guests in the form of the Holy Deer.
Since Giorgia and Stefano left the glittering world of alta moda, they see themselves as ambassadors of Italian excellence. In their two existing lodges, the White Deer San Lorenzo Mountain Lodge and the Blue Deer San Lorenzo Sea Lodge, they’ve captured the essence of the Italian landscape, mountains and sea. The Barbini’s international clientele always experiences the beating heart of Italy in a highly personal way, whether high up in the Alps or sailing the coasts of Southern Italy on an elite sailing catamaran.
The Holy Deer San Lorenzo City Lodge is now the crown jewel of the Barbini’s extraordinary showplaces. This luxurious 350-m2 space is not only graced by stunning baroque frescoes and situated within a palazzo built by the genius architect Francesco Borromini, but also buzzes with an intriguing story of the forbidden love between a pope and his sister-in-law, Olimpia Pamphilj.
During the renovation and planning of the Holy Deer San Lorenzo City Lodge, Giorgia and Stefano Barbini have pooled their experience and expertise in order to create a place steeped in historical ambience where modernity and history go hand-in-hand.
