MUSEUMS IN ROME TO VISIT: MY ADVICE ON WHICH ONES YOU SHOULD VISIT

Which are the museums in Rome to visit and which are the unmissable ones?

I decided to write this post to answer this question and to help you make a selection of the museums in Rome to visit, if you visit the city for the first time and in the second part of the post you’ll find the museums to visit if you come back to Rome.

Museums in Rome to visit

Borghese Gallery, Rome

MUSEUMS IN ROME TO VISIT IF YOU VISIT THE CITY FOR THE FIRST TIME

Borghese Gallery
It was Cardinal Scipione Borghese who built up the collection of art works housed inside the Borghese Gallery, and anyone who enters its rooms will be fascinated by the huge amount of masterpieces to admire. If you want to know which works you can admire you’d better read the post Borghese Gallery works, where you’ll find  a selection of the masterpieces and all useful information to visit the museum where booking is required.

Capitoline Museums
The complex was opened to the public in 1734 but the collection of works was amassed starting from the 15^th century, when Pope Sixtus IV donated a collection of bronzes to the people of Rome.
Then the first nucleus was enlarged by ancient sculptures and paintings of Pope Benedict XIV who was a great art collector of the 18^th century.

National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art
The most important and largest collection of Italian contemporary art is housed at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art (GNAM), where Klimt’s painting entitled “The three Ages of woman” (1905) stands out.
I dedicated a post to the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art of Rome where you can discover the unmissable masterpieces of this museum.

Vatican Museums
Technically the Vatican Museums are not located in Rome, but within the borders of the Vatican City, the world’s smallest country housing a large amount of works of art.
The history of the Vatican Museums and their art collections is 5-century long and, from the Sisitine Chapel to Raphael’s Room of the Signatura to ancient works such as the Laocoönte, you’ll be surrounded by a treasure chest of masterpieces.

To visit the museums in Rome you’d better book your entrance tickets in advance or buy Roma Pass, which offers the free entrance to one or two museums you choose, the skip-the-line ticket and the Rome public transport.

Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums

MUSEUMS IN ROME TO VISIT IF YOU COME BACK AND YOU’RE LOOKING FOR NEW IDEAS

National Gallery of Ancient Art
Inside Palazzo Corsini and Palazzo Barberini there’s an amazing collection of works of art coming from some of the most important art collections in history: the collection of Principe Cosini, the collection of the Torlonia family, the Chigi family collection, the Hertz collection and the collection of the Monte di Pietà.

Doria Pamphilj Gallery
I think it’s the most beautiful private museum in Rome.
In its rooms you can admire paintings, furniture and statue of the Doria Pamphilj family, which includes Giovanni Battista Pamphilj, who was Pope Innocent X whose portrait, painted by Velázquez, is one of the best-known paintings of this art collection.

National Museum of 21st- century arts (MAXXI)
The building designed by architect Zaha Hadid is home to one of the most recent museums in Rome.
The MAXXI houses the museum of architecture, the museum of 21st- century arts and spaces for activities and events arranged all year round.
There are more than 400 works on display, from the 1970s to the early 20th century, including works by Alighiero Boetti and Gerhard Richter.

Doria Pamphilij Gallery, Rome. Caravaggio, Rest on the Flight into Egypt (1595-1596)