This hilltop piazza, designed by Michelangelo in 1538, is one of Rome's most beautiful squares. There are several approaches but the most dramatic is the graceful Cordonata staircase, which leads up from Piazza d'Aracoeli.

　　The piazza is flanked by Palazzo Nuovo and Palazzo dei Conservatori, together home to the Capitoline Museums, and Palazzo Senatorio, Rome's historic city hall. In the centre is a copy of an equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius.

　　The original, which dates from the 2nd century AD, is in the Capitoline Museums.