About
The Capitoline Museums, known in Italian as the Musei Capitolini, occupy the Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome, the square designed on the Capitoline Hill. They are often described as the world's oldest public museums, and a visit here gives a clear sense of how the city has long preserved its own past.
What you will see
The collection brings together ancient Roman statues and Renaissance art. Visitors can spend time among classical sculpture, then move on to paintings and works from later centuries, so the displays read as a conversation between Rome's ancient and more recent eras.
Planning your visit
- Address: Piazza del Campidoglio 1, 00186 Rome, Italy
- Telephone: +39 06 0608
- Setting: the museums sit on the Capitoline Hill, in the civic heart of the city
The area around it
Because the museums stand on the Capitoline Hill, a visit fits naturally into a walk through central Rome. The Piazza del Campidoglio is itself a place to pause, and the surrounding streets of the historic centre make it easy to combine the museums with other sights in the same part of the city.
The Capitoline Museums suit anyone interested in classical sculpture, Renaissance painting, or the long history of Rome as a place where its treasures were kept on public display.