The Capitoline Hill

The Capitoline Hill, the lowest of the city’s seven hills, started life as a fortified stronghold and later became the political and religious power centre of the ancient world.

During the Renaissance it was glorified with a harmonious square designed by Michelangelo. The neighbouring Vittoriano monument is undeniably impressive, but bombastic compared to the elegance and majesty of the grand master’s Piazza del ­Campidoglio. The world’s oldest public collection of sculpture can be found here at the Musei Capitolini. Overlooking the Forum on one side, and the ­traffic-clogged Piazza Venezia on the other, the Capitoline Hill links the ancient world with our own.

Piazza del Campidoglio

There’s no better place to start exploring ancient Rome than the Piazza del Campidoglio (Capitol Square), which sits between the Capit­oline Hill’s two peaks. Built on the site of an ancient sanctuary, the square, the staircase that leads to it, and the buildings that flank it were designed by Michel­angelo. Pope Paul III commissioned him to create a majestic setting for the reception of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, on his visit to Rome in 1536. As it turned out, the square ­wasn’t completed until the 17th century. Two imposing ­statues of Castor and Pollux stand guard at the top of the ­Cordonata, as the elegant staircase is known. The piazza’s centrepiece is a first-rate copy of an immense bronze equestrian statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The original is kept inside the Capitoline Mu­seums.

The two grand palazzi ­facing each other across the square – the Palazzo Nuovo and Palazzo dei Conservatori – together house the Musei Capitolini, one of the world’s oldest public museums, containing a rich collection of ancient sculpture and medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and 18th-century art.

Piazza Venezia

If all roads lead to Rome, then all roads in Rome lead to the Piazza Venezia, the hub of the city’s road network since 1881. Some 800,000 Romans squeeze their cars through here every day, and it’s not the best place to be during rush hour.

Dominating the square, next to the Campidoglio stands Il Vittoriano, an overblown monument erected in honour of Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a newly unified Italy. Although the Vittoriano is the most dominant, the Palazzo Venezia is the most interesting building on this square. The 15th-century palace now houses an art museum and frequently hosts important temporary exhibitions.