Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his wife Svetlana are in Italy for an official two-day visit. Talks with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano were held on Wednesday.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his wife Svetlana are in Italy for an official two-day visit. Talks with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano were held on Wednesday.
Before the visit, the weather in Rome was rather sunny and warm for February, with temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius. But on Wednesday, the temperature suddenly fell to 10 degrees, grey clouds blanketed the skies and it began to rain. But the official welcoming ceremony at the Quirinal Palace went ahead as scheduled.
President Medvedev and his wife arrived at the palace in a limo.
A military orchestra and an honor guard regiment, representing Italy’s Army, Navy and Air Force, lined up to greet the Russian president. They were joined by the presidential palace’s cavalry guards – horsemen in traditional uniforms and helmets with horsetails in back, and armed with swords.
The two presidents met in the Quirinal Palace, President Napolitano’s official residence.
The palace is located on Quirinal Hill in the historic center of Rome, named after Quirinus, a god of war. Construction of the Renaissance palace lasted from the 16th to the 18th centuries.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Italian President Giorgio Napolitano at the Quirinal Palace on February 16, 2011.
While Dmitry Medvedev and Giorgio Napolitano held talks in the Quirinal Palace’s ceremonial room, the countries' first ladies were taken on a tour around the residence by Louis Godart, adviser to the Italian president on the conservation of cultural heritage.
Presidents Medvedev and Napolitano went out on a balcony to admire the panoramic view of the Eternal City.
Svetlana Medvedev said she was “astounded by the care Italians show toward their cultural heritage.” The Russian first lady invited the Napolitanos to visit Moscow and tour the Moscow Kremlin.
President Dmitry Medvedev and President Giorgio Napolitano and first ladies Clio Napolitano and Svetlana Medvedev at the Quirinal Palace on February 16, 2011.
The Italian and Russian first ladies Clio Napolitano and Svetlana Medvedev touring the Quirinal Palace, the official residence of the Italian president.
