RomeCenter
Campidoglio (Capitol Hill)
The monumental square isn’t very large but grand and harmonious for the architectural setting and proportion, and the stylistic coherence of the three buildings that delimit it without closing it. It’s the first square of modern Rome created on a regular project by Michelangelo.
On the balustrade that surrounds the square frontally, are the Dioscuri next to their horses, marble statues of the Imperial age found close to the Cenci residences in different periods at the time of Pope Pius IV, as well as the so-called Trofei di Mario, depicting barbarian arms set here in 1590.
In the middle of the square is (a copy of) the famous statue of Marco Aurelio on his horse, a superb example of Imperial equestrian statue.
The square is delimited on its sides by the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the Palazzo Nuovo, also named Museo Capitolino, identical, with façades designed by Michelangelo.
At the extremity of the square is the Palazzo Senatorio, with the solemn façade erected by Giacomo Della Porta and Girolamo Rainaldi. Behind the balustrade is the bell tower of Martino Longhi il Vecchio with a clock in the middle and an ancient cross coated in gold on top.
THE CAMPIDOGLIO AREA.
The Campidoglio is the smallest of the seven hills of Rome but even the most important because it was the religious and political center of ancient Rome and always remained the heart of the city and the core of the city administration.
From piazza d’Aracoeli three streets lead to the Campidoglio: on the left the steep staircase that leads to the church of S. Maria d’Aracoeli, leaning on the Vittoriano; on the right, among the trees, the sinuous path built for coaches of via delle Tre Pile that arrives underneath the Palazzo dei Conservatori; and in the middle, the monumental graded ramp designed by Michelangelo, with two Egyptian basalt lions coming from the Iseo Campense in Campo Marzio, transformed into fountains by Giacomo della Porta.