Enter destination:

Rome » The Capitoline Hill - Heart of Ancient Rome

The Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II
(a photo by Dan Kamminga)

The Piazza Venezia Square is dominated by the enormous monument of Vittorio Emanuele II, built to glorify the unification of Italy, know between the local people with the nicknames "The Typewriter" and "The Wedding Cake", because of its shape and the blinding whiteness of its marble decoration. This monument was erected over the ruins of countless medieval buildings, deliberately destroyed to make space, changing forever the outline of the Capitoline Hill (Campidoglio Monte Capitolino), the heart of the ancient Rome and the most significant of all seven hills, over which was founded the city.

Romulus and Remus in the Capitoline
Museum (a photo by stringbot)

The Capitoline Hill was occupied by a settlement even in the Bronze Age. In ancient times on its southern hump was situated the most adorable temple in the city – the sanctuary devoted to Jupiter, while on its northern hump was built the oldest defensive citadel of Rome – Arx, which in Latin means "fortress". Today, in the middle of the hill-top is situated the Piazza del Campidoglio Square, completed in 17th century after the initial project created by Michelangelo. The palaces on the both sides of the square, house the Capitoline Museums (Musei Capitolini), containing a gallery hall showing some of the most remarkable Roman and ancient Greek statues. The most impressive among them is the original horse statue of Emperor Mark Aurelius from 2nd century AD, which you can see to the right on the portico of the palace hosting the Capitoline Museum (the statue on the square is a copy of the original). You can go to the back left end of the square to enjoy an unforgettable view over the Roman Forum.

St. Mary of the Altar of Heaven
(a photo by Gaspa)

Almost a hundred of steps lead to the church St. Mary of the Altar of Heaven (Santa Maria in Aracoeli), built in 1348 as a vow to celebrate the end of plague outbreak. More accessible is the road from the back side of Piazza del Campidoglio. The church’s interior has a magical old charm, especially at dusk, when the gentle light of the chandeliers illuminate the gilt ceilings and the ancient columns, sunk in gloaming. Among the most interesting mural painting inside the church are the 15th-century frescoes depicting the life of Saint Bernardino, created by Pinturicchio in the first chapel along the southern path-way.

The Imperial Forums (Fori Imperiali) are five in number, built by Julius Cesar and his successors after the old forum became too narrow for the grown population of the world capital. Today, many of the five forums’ monuments are buried under Via dei Fori Imperiali, the central boulevard built by Mussolini in 1932. According to the evidence of local people, only one fifth of old terrain remained over the service land. Julius Cesar is the first who undertook a wide scale building outside the initial forum, but the centuries were not favourable to his creation – the Forum of Caesar (Foro di Casare) (54 – 46 BC). The efforts of his successor on the Roman throne, Emperor August, were not also spared by the time and the forthcoming generations. The ruins of the temple devoted to Mars Ultor with colonnades on three of its sides are almost everything remained from the Forum of Augustus (Foro di Augusto) (2 BC – 14 AD). The most interesting remains in the Forum of Nerva, built by the emperor who ruled only 2 years (96 - 98 AD), are two huge columns and a splendid frieze. But most of the visitors pass quickly by it and by the Forum of Vespasian (Forum Vespasiani) (71 - 75 AD) to see the famous Forum of Trajan (Foro Taiano) (107 – 113 AD), the most sumptuous of the five forums.

The Trajan's Column
(a photo by Shadowgate)

The renowned Trajan's Column rises on this forum gripping visitors' attention almost immediately. It is 30 m high and was fully covered by earth before the start of the archaeological excavations, showing what hard efforts it costs to reveal from earth the entire forum. The excellently preserved monument, according to many scholars a real masterpiece of the ancient Roman sculpture, was erected in 113 AD to celebrate the victories over the Dacians, a warlike people who once inhabited the lands of nowadays Romania. The column is composed of 18 marble cylindrical blocks, around which a complex spiral frieze is depicted. The frieze has a length of more than 200 m and portrays in an impressive marble narration many scenes from the victorious campaigns of Emperor Trajan against the Dacians. It has been counted that the relief contains approximately 2500 figures.