Get Lost in Time at Rome’s Capitoline Museums

Taking the grand staircase from the edge of Piazza Venezia you’ll arrive at the top of Capitoline Hill and the piazza designed by Michelangelo, a square dominated by a white patterned floor.

The Palazzo Senatorio, Palazzo Conservatori and Palazzo Nuovo surround you on three sides whilst in the middle is a replica of the equestrian monument to Marcus Aurelius.

In 1536 Michelangelo was asked to create an area on the Capitoline Hill to house the sculpture but he didn’t just stop at a simple pedestal.
Instead he chose to design the square and grand staircase that today provide a welcome respite from the city’s chaos. The Palazzo Senatorio was the former civil court but is now the seat of the Mayor of Rome. The other two palaces now house the Capitoline Museums and the piazza is called Piazza Campidoglio, though the whole area is often just referred to as Campidoglio.

From the moment you enter the first courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori with its monumental architectonic fragments and ancient sculptures you feel the ‘wow factor’. You can’t help but notice the enormous fragments of the once colossal statue of Emperor Constantine. The white marble pieces were assembled in a sitting sculpture that was clothed in gilded bronze and coloured marble. Today the head, enormous feet and two hands with one finger pointing up (at least in the way the piece is arranged today) are all that remain from this statue that dates from around 312-315 B.C.

From the entry courtyard you wind your way through elegant rooms with marble floors and ornate ceilings.The Palace by itself is worth a visit without even considering the Museum’s collection. There are ancient ceramics hinting at the life of former civilizations, a noteworthy art collection, marble busts of philosophers and politicians as well as original Roman ruins found on the site and special exhibitions. In one of the first rooms of the Palazzo dei Conservatori you’ll notice a marble plaque announcing honorary citizenship to Michelangelo Buonarotti.

Eventually you will find yourself outside the Palace and in a glass-covered modern conservatory (the former gardens) which protect the grandiose equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, a copy of which you would have passed in the piazza where it was originally placed.

Behind the Statue of Marcus Aurelius you’ll find the remains of the Temple of Jupiter dating back to the 6th Century BC. Through windows and glass roofs that cover parts of the ancient ruins found on the site you can see people walking across the footpath above, scooters parked on top and cars driving along at the modern street level oblivious to what lies beneath their feet.

You’ll need to set aside at least 4 hours to see this Museum properly, though thankfully there is a good café inside (which is also accessible without visiting the museums by taking a side entrance) which boasts a grand terrace with Rome as a fitting backdrop.