CAPITOLINE MUSEUMS

The Capitolini Museums gracefully surround the square conceived by Michelangelo, perched majestically atop the Capitoline Hill.

In 1538 the famous equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius was moved from the Lateran to the top of the Capitol Hill.

The Lateran Palace  was  the first donation of the Emperor Costantine to the Pope  Silvestro Ist after the edict of tolerance 313 A.C.

The Capitoline Museums  became the first donation to the people of Rome from the Pope Sistus IV  in 1471.

Thanks to the transfer  of ancient bronzes from the square of the Palace of the Lateran to the Capitolini Museum, Sistus IV , the Pope who also   built the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, he created the oldest public collections and museum dedicated to antiquities.

In 1734 Pope Clement XII  officially opened the museum to the public,  greatly expanding the collections and making these accessible to all the citizens.