The Insula dell'Ara Coeli is a multi-story apartment block from the second century, tucked at the base of the Capitoline Hill near the steps of the Basilica of the Ara Coeli. You can identify this site by the row of original brick-faced…
Capitoline Hill and Piazza Venezia
This walk traces Rome's dramatic transition from ancient power to modern nationhood, taking in Michelangelo's elegant hilltop square, breathtaking Forum overlooks, and the monumental Altar of the Fatherland.
Listen to this tour in the Mira app →Walk it in street view
1. Insula Romana
2. Cordonata Capitolina
The Cordonata Capitolina is a monumental, gently sloped staircase that connects Piazza d'Aracoeli at the base of the hill to Piazza del Campidoglio. Designed by Michelangelo as part of a larger sixteenth-century plan to remodel the…
3. Piazza del Campidoglio
The Piazza del Campidoglio is defined by its precise, trapezoidal geometry and a central oval paving design that radiates outward from a bronze equestrian statue. Perched atop the Capitoline Hill, this square sits at the historic center of…
4. Senatorial Palace
The Senatorial Palace features a central double-ramp staircase and a towering bell tower overlooking the Piazza del Campidoglio. Built atop the ancient Tabularium, which functioned as the state archive for Roman law in the first century…
5. Santa Maria in Aracoeli Basilica
The Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli stands atop the highest point of the Capitoline Hill, recognizable by its steep, monumental marble staircase of one hundred twenty-four steps that climb directly from the city streets to its brick…
6. Monument to Victor Emmanuel II
The Victor Emmanuel the Second Monument is impossible to miss at the head of Piazza Venezia. It is a massive structure of gleaming, white Botticino marble that stands seventy meters tall and one hundred thirty-five meters wide against the…
7. Piazza Venezia
Piazza Venezia is defined by the massive white marble monument to Victor Emmanuel the Second, which dominates the square with its sweeping staircases and tall colonnades. Known to some locals by irreverent nicknames like the typewriter or…