Palazzo Massimo alle Terme

Rome, Italy

The National Roman Museum is a museum with several branches in separate buildings throughout the city of Rome. Palazzo Massimo alle Terme houses part of the National Roman Museum, one of the world’s greatest collections of ancient art. It provides a magnificent showcase for some of the most beautiful paintings, mosaics and sculptures of the Roman age.

One room is devoted to the mummy that was found in 1964 on the Via Cassia, inside a richly decorated sarcophagus with several artefacts in amber and pieces of jewellery also on display. The ground and first floor has also sculptures of the period between the late Roman Republic and the early imperial period (2nd century BC to 1st century AD).

The second floor hosts frescoes, stucci and mosaics, including those from the villa of Livia, wife of Augustus. The frescoes, discovered in 1863 and dating back to the 1st century BC, show a luscious garden with ornamental plants and pomegranate trees.

The Museum's numismatic collection is the largest in Italy. Among the coins on exhibit are Theodoric’s medallion, the four ducats of Pope Paul II with the navicella of St Peter, and the silver piastre of the Pontifical State with views of the city of Rome.

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Details

Founded: 16th century
Category: Museums in Italy

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Steve (2 months ago)
This is definitely a must visit when in Rome. Some of the art and sculptures here are truly amazing and beautiful beyond the tat you get with modern art. Considering there are pieces here over 2000 years old you really get the feeling of what it was like. Rooms of plaster and tesseracts flooring. Awe inspiring stuff indeed. A hide museum with plenty to see you will need a couple of hours here to appreciate it all.
Kae (3 months ago)
8 euro tickets for 3 museums in town. We were able to visit only one of them. There are many art pieces, statues, and historical items to learn about their history. You can spend the whole day in the museum to read all descriptions and appreciate all items. Most statues are very complete. It’s unbelievable to see how well the Ancient Rome artists created these arts and they still remain in these great conditions. The museum is not crowded and easy to navigate.
Kendall Brown (4 months ago)
A major repository of Hellenistic and Roman antiquities, including busts of many Roman rulers, wall paintings from Livia's house, mosaics, Worth visiting just to see the "Resting Pugilist," one of the few surviving Hellenistic bronzes, and the discus thrower. Impressive display of Roman coins in the basement.
Pong Lenis (4 months ago)
One of the nicest museums I’ve ever visited, its collection is vast, they are very well preserved and displayed. It has lots of lovely statues, jewelry, artifacts, artworks and paintings. I really enjoyed my time here, it’s fairly big with lots to see. I have been twice now and would love to go back someday. I would definitely recommend visiting this amazingly historical museum.
Kerron Montgomery (5 months ago)
This museum is a must if you like sculptures. There are not very many other types of art that we saw there. Some of the sculptures that are most famous were unfortunately on loan when we went. The one I wanted to see most, in fact! The audio guide is a must!!! I can't express that enough! There are little explanations on anything in Italy and we learned quickly that if an audio guide is available, than you must get it two learn about or understand anything you're looking at. We went in late October/early November and we were practically the only ones there. We purchased tickets with no line but when we went to return the audio guide, I had to wait for about 20 minutes in line. The line really wasn't out the door or anything, but there was only one attendant and it took a longer time. We had tickets for something else and wanted to be on time for those and did not expect to plan on standing in line for a long period of time to give the audio guide back and get my driver's license back as they hold a license or passport in exchange for the audio guide.
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