Discover the Capitoline Museums, where Rome was born

Overview

Highlights

• Rome's most important museum
• Visit your way
• Small groups with official guide

What's included

Itinerary

1. 1

   Stop 1

   Pass by

   The historic home of the Capitoline Museums consists of the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the Palazzo Nuovo, buildings that overlook Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio. The museum's creation dates back to 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV donated the city a collection of important bronzes from the Lateran (including the Capitoline Wolf), which he placed in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori and on the Piazza del Campidoglio.The antiquarian collection gradually grew with donations from various popes (Paul III, Pius V who wanted to remove pagan sculptures from the Vatican), and was better housed with the building of the Palazzo Nuovo in 1654. Since then the museum has expanded significantly, including not only Roman-era artefacts remarkable for their quantity and quality (statues, inscriptions, mosaics), but also pieces of medieval, Renaissance and Baroque art.

Before you go