In Italian, the Capitol sounds like Monte Capitolino – Capitoline Mountain. It is one of the seven hills on which Rome was built. The height of the hill is 46 meters.
At its top is the Piazza del Campidoglio, in the middle of which stands a bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius. Along the perimeter of the square are the Palazzo Senatorio, the Palazzo dei Conservatori, the Palazzo Nuovo and the Basilica of Santa Maria in Araceli.
Table of Contents:
1. History
2. Architecture
2.1. Palazzo Senatorio
2.2. Palazzo dei Conservatori
2.3. Palazzo Nuovo
2.4. Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli
3. Interesting Facts about the Capitoline Hill
4. How to Get to the Capitoline Hill
History of the Capitoline Hill
In ancient Rome, the Capitoline Square was where the Senate met and the Tabularia, the state archives building, was located.
In the 5th century BC, the Capitoline Temple was built here in honor of the three main ancient Roman gods: Jupiter, Juno Coin and Minerva. Some of these buildings were burned and looted, others were rebuilt and changed their original purpose. Eventually the square became dilapidated and so decayed that in the 5th century AD goats were herded around it.
The Capitoline Hill got a new breath in 1536 thanks to the arrival of the Spanish King Charles V in Rome. Pope Paul III, as the master of the city, simply became ashamed of the deplorable state of the Capitol. Michelangelo Buonarroti, the most famous court painter and architect at the time, was entrusted with the project.
Alas, he managed to realize only a small part of the plan. After Michelangelo’s death, the restoration was undertaken by his pupils. The final form, preserved to our time, the square acquired only in 1654.
Architecture of the Capitoline Hill
When viewed from a bird’s eye view, the square is trapezoidal in shape. In this way, Michelangelo made it visually open to the city and visitors.
At the head is the Palace of the Senators, flanked by the Palace of the Conservators and the Capitoline Museum (Musei Capitolini). To the left and right of the square are marble personifications of the rivers Tiber and Nile. The entire ensemble is filled with hidden allusions to a variety of events and personalities. Art historians studying Michelangelo’s work are still deciphering his hidden messages. Perhaps you will be able to unravel one of them when you visit Rome.
Palazzo Senatorio (Senatorial Palace)
Built in the 1st century BC, the Palace of the Senators served as an archive, but was empty for a long time in the Middle Ages, gradually deteriorating. The second life of the palace began during the reconstruction of the entire square. Now the city hall is located here, so most of the premises are closed to the public. You can only get into the Lapidarium, a museum dedicated to inscriptions on stone slabs telling about life and politics in ancient Rome, and the ancient underground corridors of the Tabularia.
Palazzo dei Conservatori (Palace of Conservators)
Built in the 15th century, the Palazzo del Conservatori was the meeting hall for senators and judges, called the Conservatori, which gave it its name. It now houses a museum of marble busts from ancient Rome, frescoes and the Pinacoteca, where paintings by Rubens, Velázquez and Caravaggio are on display.
A separate room is dedicated to the famous Capitoline she-wolf, which has become a symbol of Rome.
The Castellani Hall displays Etruscan and Greek artifacts, and the Capitoline Coin Museum has collections of coins and jewelry.
Palazzo Nuovo
As you can understand by its name, Palazzo Nuovo is the newest structure in the whole architectural ensemble. Erected in the 17th century, it was a copy of the Palazzo Conservatorio and was originally intended to be a museum. Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures can be viewed in the long galleries and atrium.
The three palaces listed above are part of the Capitol Museum. The exhibits have the same opening hours and are accessible by a single ticket.
- Opening hours: Tuesday through Sunday from 9:00 to 20:00.
- Ticket price: all-inclusive ticket – 15 euros, discount ticket – 13 euros.
Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli (Santa Maria in Aracoeli)
The Basilica of Santa Maria in Araceli was built on the site of the pagan temple of Juno Coin. The basilica was originally a Greek monastery and then belonged to various monastic orders – Benedictines and Franciscans, who completed and consecrated it in 1921. The carved wooden ceiling, the 13th-century icon of Our Lady on the basilica altar, and the sculpture of the infant Jesus, which has miraculous properties, are worth noting.
- Opening hours: daily from 9:00 to 17:30.
- Ticket price: free of charge.
Interesting facts
The statue of Marcus Aurelius was miraculously saved during the Christian struggle with paganism, and that only because the face of Marcus Aurelius was similar to the face of Constantine. The very pedestal of the statue is made from a column of the temple of Castor and Pollux. Venus of the Capitol in the New Palace also almost suffered a sad fate, if it was not sheltered from the massacre of the inhabitants of Rome. The freed statue saw the light only in the XVII century.
Silver was once minted on the grounds of the Temple of Juno Coin. When the new monetary unit was issued, the goddess Coin was depicted on it, after which the name of metallic money “coin” was spread around the world.
According to legend, the statue of the Capitoline She-wolf was cast as early as the Etruscans in the 5th century B.C., but when experts began restoring it in 2010, they concluded that it could not have been produced at that time, but only in the Middle Ages.
How to Get to the Capitoline Hill
- Address: Piazza del Campidoglio
- The Capitoline Hill is a twenty-minute walk from the Colosseum, near the Roman Forum and Piazza Venezia.
- To get there by metro: line B, Colosseo station.
- By bus: Nos. 30, 51, 81, 83, 85, 87, 118, 160, 170, 628, 810 to the stop Ara Coeli-Piazza Venezia.
- By streetcar: No. 8 to the Venezia stop (terminus).
- By foot: you can climb the Lorenzio di Simone Andreozzi staircase, but be prepared for a steep climb. The main staircase of the Cordonata complex is much more comfortable, as it is made in the form of a stepped ramp. To avoid the crowds of tourists, go a little to the right and find the inconspicuous gentle staircase with a pergola, which is used by locals to climb in comfort and in the shade.
- Official Website: www.comune.roma.it
