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Capitoline Museums
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Written by RuinMyTrip Editorial from published research and official sources, not from a personal trip. It is not a traveler review and is never counted in the community rating. How we research.
What it is
The oldest public museums in the world, founded in 1471, in two palaces on the Campidoglio facing a square designed by Michelangelo, holding classical sculpture, the Capitoline Wolf and a picture gallery.
Why travelers go
For the sculpture that defines the popular image of Rome, and for the Tabularium gallery, whose arched windows look straight down the Forum. Nothing else gives you that view from inside a museum.
What is genuinely good
The Dying Gaul, the Constantine fragments, the original Marcus Aurelius, the Tabularium view, Michelangelo's square outside, and daily opening.
Downsides and tourist traps
Non-residents pay while residents of Rome enter free. Thin labelling. A confusing two-building layout. Busy from mid-morning.
Best for
Every visitor to Rome with any interest in the ancient city, and anyone who wants a Forum view without the Forum queue.
Consider skipping if
You have already booked the full Colosseum, Forum and Palatine circuit for the same day. Two sites of that density in one day is too much.
Practical advice
Go at opening or after 17:00. Find the Tabularium before you tire, because it is the thing you will remember. The underground passage between the two palaces is easy to miss and is the only link.
Tickets and reservations
Full price for non-residents 20.50 euros, reduced 15.00 euros. Residents of Rome and the metropolitan city enter free. Advance purchase at the ticket office carries a 1 euro pre-sale fee.
Getting there
A five-minute walk up the cordonata from Piazza Venezia. The nearest metro is Colosseo on line B, about ten minutes away.
Where it sits
The Campidoglio, the smallest of Rome's seven hills, between Piazza Venezia and the Forum, with the Vittoriano on one side and the Forum below on the other.
How long to allow
Two to three hours.
Accessibility
Lifts serve most galleries and there is step-free access from Via delle Tre Pile, though the cordonata approach is a ramped climb.
The RuinMyTrip verdict
The best museum in Rome that is not the Vatican, and the Tabularium view over the Forum is the single most underrated thing in the city. Go early or late.
Sources
Every figure above was checked against these before publication. If one has since changed, tell us and we will correct it.
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Full price for non-residents is 20.50 euros and the reduced price for non-residents is 15.00 euros. source
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The museums open every day from 9.30 to 19.30. source
From the RuinMyTrip team
Written by RuinMyTrip Editorial from published research and official sources, not from a personal trip. It is not a traveler review and is never counted in the community rating. How we research.
The Capitoline Museums charge 20.50 euros full price for non-residents and 15.00 euros reduced. They open every day from 9.30 to 19.30, with last admission an hour before closing. These are the oldest public museums in the world, founded in 1471, and they sit on the Campidoglio in a square Michelangelo laid out. The collection is the one people picture when they picture Roman sculpture: the Capitoline Wolf, the…
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