Arts & Culture · Our pick in Rome
Rome, the city of art: the back story
The back story
About Rome, the city of art: the back story
Rome is a city where great art still hangs where it was made: Caravaggio’s paintings in the churches of San Luigi dei Francesi and Santa Maria del Popolo, Raphael’s frescoes at the Villa Farnesina, Bernini’s sculptures in the Galleria Borghese. The princely families’ galleries, the Doria Pamphilj and the Colonna, still open their palazzi, and the city’s 20th and 21st centuries live at the Galleria Nazionale and Zaha Hadid’s MAXXI.
The princely galleries
The Galleria Borghese in the Villa Borghese park, the Galleria Doria Pamphilj on the Via del Corso, the Galleria Colonna on the Piazza Santi Apostoli, and the Gallerie Nazionali at Palazzo Barberini and the Galleria Corsini.
The modern city
La Galleria Nazionale in the Valle Giulia, the MAXXI in Flaminio, and the Centrale Montemartini, where ancient sculpture stands among the machines of a former power station.
Book the Galleria Borghese well ahead: entry is by timed slot.
Music and opera
The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, with its summer season at the Baths of Caracalla; the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia at Renzo Piano’s Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone.
Film
Cinecittà, the studios of Fellini, and the Casa del Cinema in the Villa Borghese; each autumn, the Rome Film Fest.
Our advice: check each museum’s own site for its monthly open Sundays and late openings.
Why it's on our list
- The princely galleries
- The modern city
- Music and opera
- Film
Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Rome, the city of art: the back story before you go.