This makes for a magnificent scene, bristling with columns, triumphal arches, battered walls, temples converted into churches, and crisscrossed by paved streets, bearing witness to 12 centuries of history. Before starting a detailed exploration of the site, visitors should view it from atop the Capitoline Hill or the tabularium, forming a terrace in the Musei Capitolini overlooking the old city. From here, the forum can be seen in its melancholy majesty redolent of bygone great civilisations.