Quirinal Hill
The family also lends its name to the Palazzo Aldobrandini on the Quirinal Hill. The Aldobrandini family, having reached the height of its powers when Ippolito Aldobrandini became Pope Clement VIII (1592-1605), began the building of the villa. In 1600 Clement VIII acquired the Orti Vitelli on the Quirinal hill and in 1601 donated the property to his Cardinal-nephew Pietro Aldobrandini. The old buildings of the Vitelli Family were demolished and construction began on the new villa and adjacent garden. The villa was never the family seat as the Aldobrandini family owned even more splendid residences elsewhere in Rome. The villa on the Quirinal hill served essentially for ceremonial functions.