Michelangelo Buonarroti designed the magnificent piazza you see now in 1536 by commission from Pope Paul III.
This is the summit of the Capitoline Hill, one of the symbols of Ancient Rome and the geographical center of the Roman Empire. Michelangelo emphasized this with a dramatic oval pattern of inlaid travertine marble to indicate “the center of the world.” This intricate pattern took so long to complete that it was not finished until 300 years after his death. A statue of emperor Marcus Aurelius mounted on a horse sits at the center of the design.
Luxurious palaces rise on three sides of the piazza. They were actually medieval buildings that Michelangelo restored and remodeled into the fantasy of orderly symmetry adorned with the elaborate stonework that was a hallmark of the Renaissance. Their pale shades of cream and apricot are intensified by the gilded light of the golden hour.
A row of statues gazes out over the city from the top of this ancient hill. The largest two, Castor and Pollux, flank the top of the stairway called the cordonata which is the approach to the summit. In the mythology of ancient Rome and Greece, they are twins known as the Dioscuri. One brother was immortal, the other one not. In order to share their immortality and stay together, they became the stars in the constellation Gemini. At this time of day, the they are illuminated in golden light. Their faces warm in the late afternoon as they look out over the city.