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Number 11 of 20 in Rome

Capitoline Museums: Rome's own collection, on Michelangelo's square

The Capitoline Museums stand on the smallest and most sacred of Rome's seven hills, in two palaces that face each other across a square Michelangelo designed.

The Piazza del Campidoglio with its patterned paving, the statue of Marcus Aurelius and a palace of the Capitoline Museums.
Serghei Topor, CC0
What it is
Museum
Time to allow
2 to 3 hours
Cost
Ticket
Best time
Mid-afternoon, when the tour groups have gone

Rome this week

    Why the Capitoline Museums is worth it

    The collection began in 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV gave a group of ancient bronzes to the people of Rome. In 1734 Pope Clement XII opened it to the public, which makes it one of the first museums in the world that anyone could walk into. It still belongs to the city, not to the state or the Church.

    It holds the pieces by which Rome knows itself. The bronze she-wolf with the twins Romulus and Remus under her. The Dying Gaul, a wounded warrior sinking to the ground. And the only bronze equestrian statue of an emperor to survive from antiquity, Marcus Aurelius, kept through the Middle Ages because he was mistaken for the Christian emperor Constantine.

    The setting is half the visit. Michelangelo laid out the Piazza del Campidoglio in 1536, turning it to face St Peter's and away from the Forum. The two museum buildings are joined under the square by a passage that leads to a gallery over the Forum, the best view of it there is.

    What to see

    1. Marcus Aurelius

      The gilded bronze original stands in a glass hall inside the museum. The one in the middle of the square is a copy, put there to keep the real one out of the weather.

    2. The Capitoline Wolf

      The bronze she-wolf, the emblem of the city. The twins under her were added in the Renaissance.

    3. The Dying Gaul and the Capitoline Venus

      Both in the Palazzo Nuovo, across the square: Roman marbles after Greek originals, and two of the most copied statues in the world.

    4. The gallery over the Forum

      The passage under the square opens into the arches of the Tabularium, the record office of ancient Rome. From them the whole Forum lies below you.

    How to do it well

    • Come up by Michelangelo's ramp, the Cordonata, from Piazza d'Aracoeli. It was designed to be climbed slowly.
    • The two palaces are one ticket. Do the Palazzo dei Conservatori first, then cross under the square.
    • The courtyard on the right as you enter holds the head, hand and foot of a colossal Constantine. It is the photograph everyone takes.
    • The café on the roof terrace has a view over the domes of the centre and can be reached without a museum ticket.
    • Do it on the same day as the Forum: the back of the hill looks straight down on it.

    Where it is

    Address

    Piazza del Campidoglio, on the Capitoline Hill

    Nearest station

    Colosseo, on line B, ten minutes on foot. Buses stop at Piazza Venezia

    Museums and sights nearby

    Distances are in a straight line.

    Tickets and tours: Capitoline Museums

    Capitoline Museums: common questions

    What are the Capitoline Museums famous for?
    For the Capitoline Wolf, the bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius and the Dying Gaul, and for standing on the Piazza del Campidoglio, the square Michelangelo designed in 1536.
    Are the Capitoline Museums the oldest museum in the world?
    They are among the oldest. The collection goes back to a gift of bronzes from Pope Sixtus IV to the people of Rome in 1471, and it was opened to the public in 1734.
    Are the Capitoline Museums worth it?
    Yes, and they are far quieter than the Vatican. Besides the sculpture, the gallery under the square gives the best view over the Roman Forum.
    How much time do you need for the Capitoline Museums?
    Allow 2 to 3 hours. That is this site's estimate for an unhurried visit.

    What visitors say about the Capitoline Museums

    Rating from Google

    4.7

    19,050 ratings on Google

    Google's figures as read on 6 October 2026.

    Read every review on Google

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