In the picture we see the Palazzo Senatorio, commonly referred to as the Campidoglio, which today is a symbol of the civil power of the Eternal City being the seat of the Municipality of Rome. But this building is something more, and it is time to understand why...

First all imagine how this institutional venue has existed since the distant 1143, when, for the first time in Rome, following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, was born a political power and administration which was in opposition to the religious and temporal authority of the Church and the figure of the Pope as religious leader but also a political one. It was on that fateful date, in fact, that perhaps for the first time the people tried to do alone, to oust the Pope as the administrator of the city, leaving him only the charge of the religious leader and avoiding de facto, the kind of theocracy that ruled Rome for centuries. Why did the citizens of Rome try to change the political balance?

It is known that in the course of the Middle Ages the pontiffs used to give more to their pockets, and those to their families, then to the people. Let us never forget that the Popes were like real kings, exercising a power that went well beyond the purely religious and spiritual guidance. After all they were emanations of the wills of the families that wanted to use the immense temporal power in the Catholic Church. Especially between the VIII and X century, Rome was ruled by the politics of aristocratic or noble families, clans which used to fight each other. So several people started to think that even the Pope, who had an economic and political power, was not the right choice.

In addition to this, however, the casus belli took place in 1143, when a town under the direct control of the pope, which paid every year a tribute directly to the city of Rome, decided to become independent. Of course the pontiff and the citizens of Rome were not agree with this decision. The people asked for the war, but they didn't obtain it by the Pope, who did not want to antagonize too much the one town in the area of Tusculum. A choice which the Pope paid a dear price.

So it was, in fact, that the people rose up, instituting the Municipality of Rome and by declaring war! Especially the bell in bronze of the original bell tower of the Palazzo Senatorio, which is named Patarina, symbolized this subversive act. For this reason, for centuries, the original Patarina (today the one which is located in the medieval bell tower is a copy), was played on special occasions such as municipal councils or meetings in general.

Apart from the political significance, the Palazzo Senatorio has a profound historical significance and archaeological inherent in the structure. If you see the building from the side that overlooks the Roman Forum you will easily see the blocks of tufa and peperino, used in the first century b.C. to build the Tabularium, a sort of general archive, the of ancient Rome. Well, the Palazzo Senatorio is situated right on the existing structures of the Tabularium. It does not end here, however, because due to its excellent location, just on the top of the Capitoline Hill, and for the firm foundation, in the course of the centuries, the palace was fortified, so much so that even today you can see well the remains of three towers: the one you see from the Piazza del Campidoglio was built for want of Pope Martin V (XV century), while the other two you can see better from the Roman Forum are of the time of Boniface IX (second half of the XIV century) and Nicholas V (mid XV century). Then don't forget how we should thank Michelangelo for the facade that still today we can see, because the famous master of the Renaissance age redesigned the building and the square in front of it. And then keep in mind that still today the palace constitutes the red thread that ties the ancient Rome and the modern: on the top of the building, in fact, there is a statue of a roman representative Minerva, one of the components of the Capitoline Triad (which also included Jupiter and Juno), which to the Romans represented the non plus ultra of the deities and protection certain by all those who would like to destroy of the city. It is not a case if here, at the of the Capitolium (one of the two small hills which form the Capitoline Hill, as you can read here), there was the Temple of the Capitoline Triad, named also Giove Capitolino. A mix of history, mythology and architecture for the Palazzo Senatorio, a symbol of Rome.