One of the seven hills of Rome the Capitoline’s history characterizes it as the first capitol of the Roman World and in fact it is from this very hill that we derive the word “capitol.”
With a thorough tour inside the Capitoline Museums you will explore the oldest public museum collection in the world. Founded originally by Pope Sixtus IV in 1471 the Capitoline Museums now house some of the most famous and definitive pieces of art such as the Dying Gaul, Capitoline Venus, original colossal bronze sculpture of Marcus Aurelius, Capitoline She-Wolf, Bernini’s Medusa, and the colossal statue remains of Constantine.
Enjoy the best view of the Roman Forum from the Tabularium underneath the Capitoline Museums before re-emerging to Michelangelo’s Piazza Campidoglio. You will end your visit of the Capitoline hill overlooking the skyline of Rome upon the terraces of the Victor Emmanual Monument- the modern tribute to the Italian Republic and memory of the Italian Risorgimento.
This walking tour of Rome’s mythic origins and legendary beginnings up to its modern grandeur encompasses the center of the civilization created and cultivated by the Romans leaving any visitor in awe of the humble beginnings which evolved into the most famous of empires.