The Roman National Museum

The Roman National Museum is an archaeological museum in Rome. It was established in 1889 to bring together the main archaeological collections and the numerous finds, discovered during the urban transformation due to the new role as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy taken by the city in 1871. Initially, the Museum was located in parts of the convent built in the Baths of Diocletian, and only a radical transformation in 1990 divided the works in the current 4 venues: Baths of Diocletian, Palazzo Massimo, Palazzo Attempts and Balbi Crypt. Inside the Baths of Diocletian currently you can admire sculptures and funerary materials or furniture in the “Epigraphic” and in the “Proto”. “The Octagonal Hall” is also part of this museum venue, where you can admire sculptures from the Roman baths, and the adjoining “Aula of St. Isidore “.

Today the ancient spa rooms are mainly used for temporary exhibitions in the waiting for a permanent fitting. The Palazzo Massimo, a former Jesuit college, opened as a museum in 1995 and is home to the section of “Ancient Art” and “Coin and Gold” . The Palazzo Altemps is one of the most interesting examples of Renaissance architecture in Rome, since 1997 it houses the “History of Collecting” section and the Egyptian collection. The facility also includes a former private theater and the church of Sant’Aniceto. The last museum venue, the Balbi Crypt, is part of a vast complex of buildings located on the porched courtyard attached to the Theatre of Balbus, built by Lucius Cornelius Balbus in 13 BC.

Inaugurated in 2001 it includes the “Archaeology and History of an urban landscape” (where the findings of archaeological excavations conducted since 1981 are presented in the building complex) and the ” The city of Rome from antiquity to the Middle Ages – Archaeology and History ” section, which highlights the life and transformation of the city between the fifth and tenth centuries. The Balbi Crypt represents the development of Roman society and the urban landscape from antiquity to modern times.