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Piazza del Campidoglio
Tel. 06- 3996 7800
Bus: 63, 70, 75,
81, 87, 95, 160, 170, 204, 628, 716
Open: 9am- 8pm Tue- Sun
Closed: Jan 1, May 1, Dec 25
Palazzo Senatorio is a historic building in Rome, the town hall
of the city since 1144, making it the oldest town hall in the
world. Built between the 12th and 13th centuries on the ruins of
the Tabularium and the temple of Veiove, it was renovated during
the 16th century under the supervision of Michelangelo
Buonarroti and later of Giacomo Della Porta.
Located in
Piazza del Campidoglio, on the hill of the same name, it is
flanked by the Renaissance Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo
Nuovo, which make up the complex of the Capitoline Museums.
Until the annexation of Rome to the Kingdom of Italy in 1870, it
was the seat of the Senator of Rome.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the administration of
Rome passed under the papal hand until the uprisings that led to the
birth of the Municipality of Rome in 1143-1144. The Capitol, on which
stood the Tabularium, a republican building also used as a state archive
during the imperial era, became the center of the city administration
after the demolition of a stronghold of the Corsi family, built in the
10th century and destroyed in 1105 by Pope Paschal II.
The actual
construction of a palace to be used as a town hall, on the ruins of the
temple of Veiove and the Tabularium itself, began between the second
half of the 12th and the first half of the 13th century, using the
robust structure of the pre-existing buildings as reinforcement and
terracing. to compensate for the difference in height between the
southern slopes of the Capitol and the Roman Forum. During the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the building underwent some
fortification interventions such as the closure of some arches of the
loggia and the construction of several towers with the function of
buttresses.
Under the pontificate of Paul III, in 1537, it was
decided to restore the entire Capitoline complex and the project was
assigned to the architect Michelangelo Buonarroti, whose designs were
resumed on his death by Giacomo della Porta. Buonarroti in particular
created the monumental staircase that led to the senatorial hall, while
Della Porta, based on his drawings but proposing significant variations,
designed the main facade of the building, which was only completed
between 1593 and 1598, and united the rooms of the hall of the Senator
with those of the upper room, giving life to what subsequently became
the Julius Caesar hall. The layout of the square according to the
Michelangelo project, including the pavement, was completed between the
17th and 19th centuries.
In a hall of the building, frescoes have
been found, which for a long time remained hidden and damaged several
times over the centuries, dating back to the 1920s or 1930s. The
paintings portray a triumphant Christ, Saints Peter and Paul and traces
of a halo that belonged to a Virgin Mary. Some art historians believe
that they may have been made by Pietro Cavallini's workshop, others
think of the work of Filippo Rusuti. Considering the place of the
discovery and that at the time the palace was the seat of the highest
administrative authority of the city, it seems likely that the latter
availed itself of the skill of some of the best artists of the town. The
presence of a noble symbol representing a column, next to the figure of
St. Peter, made us think of the commissioning of the Colonna family. The
patron has been identified by some scholars in the person of Cardinal
Pietro Colonna. This, however, would make the work date back to the end
of the 13th century, to the period between 1288 and 1297.
Exteriors
Facade
The facade of the building faces Piazza del
Campidoglio and has a single entrance, reachable via the double
monumental staircase, and two rows of windows. On the sides, the two
buttress towers are still visible, while on the rear façade you can see
the tower of Niccolò V (1451), which houses the mayor's office.
The double staircase designed by Michelangelo is decorated by a
sculptural group consisting of: a statue of the goddess Rome, initially
depicting Minerva sitting, placed in the center on the top of a
fountain, and on the sides two monumental statues depicting the Nile
(left) and the Tiber (right), the latter two from the temple of Serapis
on the Quirinale. On the edge there are two mixtilinear basins that with
the statue of the goddess Rome symbolize the remnant of a project wanted
by Pope Sixtus V and abandoned after his death.
On the left side,
towards via di San Pietro in Carcere going down towards the Roman Forum,
there is the secondary entrance marked by a column with an Ionic capital
surmounted by a copy of the Capitoline Wolf.
Patarina Tower
On
the top of the building is the Patarina tower, built between 1578 and
1582 on a project by Martino Longhi the elder to replace the previous
tower of medieval origin and more than 35 meters high, destroyed by
lightning around the mid-sixteenth century . The square brick structure
is divided into three superimposed orders, two of which are clearly
visible. The latter are decorated with four arches (one for each facade)
which enclose the bell cells occupied by two bronze bells dating back to
1804 and 1805. On top there is a replica of a statue depicting
Minerva-Rome and a lightning rod to protect of the structure. The clock
originally placed on the facade of the nearby basilica of Santa Maria in
Aracoeli was transferred to the main front in 1806.
The epithet
derives from the patarina, the name with which a bell from Viterbo was
renamed as war booty. The capital of Tuscia in fact gave refuge to the
Patarines, a movement that arose in the Milanese church and considered a
heretic by the Roman church. This bell was cast several times starting
from 1506 even if it is not clear what its fate was.
The bells of
the tower usually ring on the occasion of the election of the mayor and
the Christmas of Rome, even if there were extraordinary tolls, such as
those on the occasion of the abdication of Benedict XVI on February 28,
2013.
Interior
Aula Giulio Cesare
The Julius Caesar hall,
also known as the council hall, hosts the sessions of the Capitoline
Assembly and throughout its history it has kept the function of meeting
room unchanged for the various collegial bodies that have alternated in
the administration of Rome.
High on the side walls are the flags
of the 22 districts of Rome while some columns of the loggia of the
original building are visible as well as some marble coats of arms
previously placed on the facade of the building. At the two antipodes of
the room, along the smaller sides, there are a loricated statue
depicting Gaius Julius Caesar, hence the name of the room, and another,
from the 1st century, depicting an unidentified Roman navarch. On the
floor in the center of the room there is a 2nd century mosaic from a
villa in the Casal Morena area.
The sculpture from which the hall
takes its name is large (it is more than 3.1 m high) and perhaps comes
from the Forum of Caesar. It dates back to the 1st century BC. and is in
Grechetto marble. In 1936, a bronze replica was taken from the statue
which was then placed in via dei Fori Imperiali. Other bronze replicas
were placed in the same years in Rimini and Aosta.
Hall of the
Tapestry
Used for various kinds of meetings, it takes its name from
the precious Flemish tapestry dating back to the second half of the 16th
century. In addition to the latter, the room houses two paintings: I
Progenitori, by a Venetian painter of the eighteenth century, and La
forge of Vulcano (seventeenth century), by Leandro Bassano, as well as
the busts of the triumvirs of the Roman Republic: Carlo Armellini,
Giuseppe Mazzini and Aurelio Saffi.
Hall of Flags
Obtained in
the rooms of the tower of Martin V, it owes its name to the conservation
of various flags including the 14 of the civic guard wanted by Pius IX
in 1847, those of the districts, that of the 1960 Olympic Games and of
the pirofregata Rome, with which it was wrapped the coffin of King
Umberto I of Savoy, as well as the banner of Rome.
In the room
the Capitoline junta meets around a historic ebony table made in 1842
and used on various historical occasions such as the meeting of the
first municipal council of the city convened by Pius IX in 1847 and the
triumvirate composed of Armellini, Mazzini and Saffi during the Roman
Republic.
Hall of the Carroccio
The room is dedicated to the
Carroccio whose remains were sent as a warning by Frederick II of Swabia
after the victory in the battle of Cortenuova (1237) against the Lombard
League. It is accompanied by an inscription that can be translated as
follows:
«O Rome, receive the chariot as a gift from Frederick II
Caesar Augustus, an auspicious ornament for the city. This, taken by the
massacre of Milan, comes as illustrious prey to report the triumph of
Caesar. He will remain to the opprobrium of the enemy; is sent in honor
of the city of Rome. Love for her made it necessary to send him "
In the same room, mainly used for conferences, there are also
several inscriptions and marble fragments of early medieval furnishings
from the nearby basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli and from the rooms
demolished during the construction of the Vittoriano.
Mayor's
office
The mayor's study, located in the tower of Niccolò V (1451),
is divided into two adjoining rooms. The first houses the actual studio
while the second is used as a meeting room and the latter overlooks the
famous balcony visible from the outside of the tower.
The first
room is adorned with a statue and six paintings. The statue, depicting
an unidentified draped woman, seems to date back to the first century
and was found in 1953 in the area occupied by the temple of the Sun
wanted by the emperor Aureliano in the third century. The rich clothing
suggests a possible identification with either Fortune or a goddess-like
queen.
The paintings instead are: a copy by a Tuscan painter of
the Portrait of Michelangelo Buonarroti (16th century) by Iacopino del
Conte, Parable of the unfaithful factor, by Domenico Fetti, Christ and
Veronica (17th century), the work of an anonymous painter Emilian,
Battaglia (17th century), by an anonymous Italian painter, and two
Landscapes by two anonymous Italian painters.