On this 3-hour tour you’ll meet your guide at the top of the stairs of the St. Mary of Aracoeli Basilica, where you’ll begin your amazing journey through the history of the Capitoline Hill complex, including the Capitoline Museum and St. Mary of Aracoeli Basilica. Your professional guide will tell you how the construction on Capitoline Hill began, and how Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Paul III to design the square. The first square of modern Rome was created by the genius of Michelangelo, rising on the Capitoline Hill, on the site of an old village and the place dedicated to numerous temples to the Roman deities. Step inside Santa Maria in Ara Coeli, built on the ruins of the Tempio di Giunone Moneta. Its name derives from a legend according to which a sibyl predicted the coming of the son of God, saying: Haec est ara filii Dei. This is the highest peak of the Campidoglio Hill. Visit the Capitoline Museum founded by Pope Sixtus IV, and admire paintings by Caravaggio and other masters. From the top of the hill, you’ll have a panoramic view of Rome that includes the domes of Sant'Andrea della Valle and San Pietro.