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Piazza del Campidoglio and the Capitoline Museums

No. 90 Top 100 Most Visited Art Museums 2025 · 860,018 visitors in 2025

Musei Capitolini

Rome, Italy · City guide: Rome

The world's oldest public museum, in Michelangelo's square on the Capitoline Hill.

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Photo: joanne clifford, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Overview

The Musei Capitolini are No. 90 in The Art Newspaper's survey of the world's most visited art museums, with 860,018 visitors in 2025, up 17% on 2024. Founded in 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV gave a group of ancient bronzes to the people of Rome, they are often described as the world's oldest public museum.

The museums fill the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the Palazzo Nuovo on the Piazza del Campidoglio, designed by Michelangelo, linked by a tunnel that passes the ancient Tabularium.

The bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius
The bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. Photo: Zanner, Public domain, source

Best time to visit

Weekday mornings are the quietest. Check the official website for hours.

Highlights & collections

  • 1

    Capitoline Wolf

    The bronze she-wolf, symbol of Rome, with the twins Romulus and Remus.

  • 2

    Marcus Aurelius

    The original ancient bronze equestrian statue, in a glass-roofed hall.

  • 3

    Dying Gaul and Capitoline Venus

    Celebrated ancient marble sculptures in the Palazzo Nuovo.

  • 4

    Picture gallery

    Paintings by Caravaggio, Titian, Rubens and Guercino.

  • 5

    Tabularium view

    A gallery with a sweeping view over the Roman Forum.

Getting there

The museums are on Piazza del Campidoglio, reached by Michelangelo's stepped ramp (the Cordonata) from Piazza Venezia. Buses stop at Piazza Venezia; Colosseo metro station is about 15 minutes' walk away.

Visiting tips

Tickets & hours
Buy tickets online or at the museum. Check the official website for prices and hours.
Time needed
Two to three hours.
Currency
Euro (EUR). Cards, including contactless, are accepted almost everywhere.
Visa & entry
Italy is in the Schengen Area. Many visitors, including citizens of the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) now records non-EU travellers' entries and exits at the border, and the ETIAS travel authorisation is due to follow. Check the official EU site travel-europe.europa.eu and your own government's travel advice before you go.

Official information: Musei Capitolini (official website). Check opening hours, prices and entry rules there before you go.

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