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Piazza del Campidoglio - Capitoline Square

Looking across Michelangelo’s fabulous square to the Palazzo Nuovo.

[History] “Michelangelo came up with an original, trapezoidal design for the square with an intriguing oval shaped ground pattern. He rebuilt the Palazzo Senatorio, seat of the Roman senate, and redesigned the facade of the Palazzo dei Conservatori. Construction of the square started in 1546 but only the staircase at the entrance of the Palazzo Senatorio was realized when Michelangelo died in 1564. The project was finally completed in the seventeenth century according to Michelangelo's designs.”

“From the founding of Rome until its fall almost one thousand years later, the Capitoline Hill symbolized the epicenter of Rome's might and many of the city's most important buildings stood on this hill. Later, during the Middle Ages, the site continued to play an important part in Rome's history. The senate of Rome assembled here and even today it still has some political significance since the city hall is located here.”

[Image Foreground] “In the center of the square stands an equestrian statue of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The statue is a replica; the original was replaced in 1981 and moved to the Capitoline Museums to protect it from the elements. The bronze gilded statue only survived because it was thought to depict Emperor Constantine, the first Christian emperor. It wasn't until the fifteenth century that its real identity was discovered. If it had been discovered any sooner, the statue most likely would have been melted down like so many ancient statues of 'pagans'.”

[Image Background] “The Palazzo Nuovo (New Palace) building was designed by Michelangelo as a virtual mirror image of the Palazzo dei Conservatori (which it faces - across the square) It was finished by the brothers Carlo and Girolamo Rainaldi in 1654. In 1734, pope Clement XII made the art collection in the palazzo open to the public, thus creating the world's first public museum.”

“Now part of the Capitoline Museum complex, the Palazzo Nuovo contains mostly classical sculpture including the 'Dying Gaul', large statues of the Roman gods Minerva and Mars and the aforementioned statue of Marcus Aurelius.”