The Capitol, the smallest of Rome's seven hills, was the political and religious center of the ancient city. On its two summits stood the city's two principal temples, dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus Capitolinus and Juno Moneta, on the sites now occupied by the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli. The lower area between them is now occupied by the Piazza del Campidoglio.
The square, flanked by palaces and approached by Michelangelo's ceremonial ramp and staircase, still conveys a feeling of the grandeur and dignity which the city has preserved down the centuries. Here victorious Roman generals came to celebrate their triumphs, making their way to the Capitol along the Sacred Way (Via Sacra); here in the Middle Ages poets were crowned and tribunes of the people were acclaimed; here in 1955 the Treaty of Rome, establishing the European Economic Community, was signed; and here, in the Palazzo dei Senatori, the Mayor of Rome has his residence and receives distinguished visitors to the city. This has been since time immemorial the political center of Rome, the counterpart of the city's spiritual and religious center in the Vatican.
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