ROME MUSEUM ITALY

ROME MUSEUMS

Rome Museums - Rome Italy is the beginning of all museums from what the anthropologists and archeologists have uncovered to the most modern versions of their ancestors. Rome sightseeing tours are available for most museums however, they are also open for you to explore easily by yourself. Many of Rome’s museums are “open air” with such as the Forum, one gigantic excavation of Roman history. While most Rome museums and remains are located in the heart of the city, you may need to join a Roman/Italy sightseeing and tourism group to see some of the sights that are outside the centre city.

1) Capitoline Museum and Palazzo dei Conservatori
Hours Tues-Sun 9am-8pm Location Piazza del Campidoglio
Metro Bus: 44, 89, 92, 94, or 716
Phone06-67102071 Admission (to both) $8.95. Free admission on the last Sunday of each month. Built in the 17th century, the museum was based on an architectural sketch by Michelangelo. Venus has a gallery all her own. The tour guide will tell you the story of Amore and Psyche, and the conservatori is across the street were also based on a Michelangelo plan and are equally as entertaining.

2) Galleria Borghese
Hours-Apr Tues-Sun 9am-7pm Address is Piazza Scipione Borghese 5 and it is located off Via Pinciano Bus: 53 or 910 Phone 06 8417645 for information. Admission is about $10. One of the most "notorious" galleries in Rome, Galleria Borghese was completely renovated and reopened in 1997. Here lay the greats, including Bernini's Apollo and Daphne, Raphael's Deposition, and Caravaggio's Jerome. Many pieces in the collection were actually stolen from the original owners who were thrown in prison until they saw the error of keeping these pieces from the emperor.

3) Galleria Nazional d'Arte Antica in Barberini Palace
HoursTues-Sun 9am-7pm Location Palazzo Barberini and phone 06-4814591. Admission is about $7-8 for adults and free for children ages 17 and under. The palace houses Roman statuary found in the ruins, and overlooks the city from high atop on of Rome's great hills. Be sure to see the Nile Mosaic, a preserved ancient Roman work and one of the most incredible ever recovered from the earth. This mosaic has the details of the story of the flooding of the Nile, and how to make a mummy!

4) Vatican Museums and The Sistine Chapel
Hours from March to late October Monday to Friday 8.45am-3:20pm;. Saturday and the last Sunday of the month from 8.45am to 12.20pm. Rest of the year it closes at 12.10. With all these times it is better to check the uptodate position when you want to visit. It is located around the back of St Peters but you cant access it from the Square. It is on Viale Vaticano, a long walk around the Vatican walls from St. Peter's Square. The Metro station which is nearest is Ottaviano/San Pietro, and walk keeping to the right around St Peter’s Basilica outside the square. Phone06-69884341 Admission $14 but free for everyone the last Sun of each month (be ready for a crowd) Closed all national and religious holidays (except Easter week)
This is probably one of the main reasons why you came to Rome in the first place. The Vatican Museum boasts all things Roman Catholic which can be put in a museum and viewed by the public and the Sistine Chapel was what Michelangelo was remembered for the most, even though he originally didn't want to do it, being a sculptor rather than a painter. Bring binoculars to aid you looking at the wonderful artwork on the ceiling and be ready for neck cricks. Making this visit also means long walks to get to the Museum entrance and then long walks along the Vatican corridors.

5) National Gallery of Ancient Art
Hours are Tuesday to Sunday - closed on Mondays from 9am to 7pm and it is mainly located at Via Barberini 18. The Metro station is Barberini and the phone number is 06-4814430. Admission to this Gallery is about $8. This gallery is part of the National Gallery of Ancient Art, the different galleries are sprinkled throughout the city, much like the Smithsonian institute is spread around Washington, D.C.

6) Park of the Monsters
Hours Daily 8am-dusk Location is the Villa delle Meraviglie, Bomarzo. You need to take a COTRAL bus from Viterbo. Phone0761-924-029 and admission is about $10. A natural gallery and museum, Prince Vicino Orsini had it built in a deep valley that the Orsini Palace overlooks. The park--and the stones in the valley across -- is filled with scary figures carved from natural rock. The Mouth of Hell is an ogre's face wherein you walk through the mouth, nymphs with wings and a huge land turtle are just some of the many carvings you will see when you spend the day here. It is about 90 minutes north of Rome. It dates from the 16th Century.