The Capitoline Hill overlooking the Forum was the site of the most important temple in ancient
Rome, the Temple of Jupiter. This temple is gone now (some of its foundation can be seen in
places), but in its place are the Piazza del Campidoglio and the Capitoline Museums. The
museums house Roman sculpture (mostly ancient) and some newer paintings, but on our arrival,
we discovered that we'd chosen to visit on a Monday, when the museum is closed. This left us
with the Piazza to contemplate. Fortunately the Piazza was planned by Michelangelo, and there
are some interesting things about it.
First, the Piazza is approached from the west by a sort of ramp-staircase, called the
cordonata, which is wide enough and gradual enough for someone to ascend on horseback.
More of a selling point in the 16th Century than in the 21st, but it was kind of nice to run
into a stairway that was less steep than it could have been. The top of the cordonata is
flanked by ancient Roman statues of Castor and Pollux.
Philip Climbs the Cordonata
Nella and Bob on the Cordonata
Ascending the Cordonata
Statue of Castor
Statue of Pollux
The Piazza itself is laid out trapezoidally, with an open space surrounded by Palazzi with
Michelangelo-designed elements in their façades. The Piazza was deliberately laid out to face
away from the Forum (which is to the east) and toward the Vatican. Some of the Palazzi
surrounding the Piazza are now occupied by the museums, but the one in the center, the
Palazzo Senatorio, houses the current Rome town hall. The double staircase in front
of the Palazzo Senatorio was designed by Michelangelo. Statues in front of the staircase
represent the river gods of the Tiber and Nile, with the goddess Minerva appearing in the
center.
Palazzo Senatorio
Piazza del Campidoglio and Palazzo Senatorio
The floor of the Piazza itself has an interesting pattern of tiles which was designed by
Michelangelo but not implemented until 1940, under Mussolini. The center of the Piazza holds
a bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius which Michelangelo didn't like very much (he
supplied a less-than-grandiose pedestal for it). The present statue is a copy, with the
original in the Capitoline Museum.
Statue of Marcus Aurelius
Nella in Piazza
To the left of the Palazzo Senatorio is a road leading to a nice (and free) overlook of the Forum.
We took advantage of this and took a few photographs.
Forum from Capitoline Hill
Arch of Septimius Severus
Forum and Pigeon
Skyline and Family Discussion
Santi Luca e Martina Church
Then we looked at our watches (those of us that had watches, anyway) and observed that the
St. Ignatius Church would be open, according to its posted hours. So we descended the cordonata
and backtracked mostly to the north to find the church.