Stand at the feet of the Marcus Aurelius statue in this Michelangelo-designed, elliptical-shaped Renaissance piazza, and you will be at what was once the center of the world (or at least the Roman Empire). Today this space, which is surrounded by three palaces, is home to local government offices and the Capitoline Museums. From the bottom of the Cordonata Steps, take in architecture from Roman, medieval, Renaissance, baroque, and neoclassical eras.
