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Free Things to Do in Rome

The best free attractions and experiences in Rome

Rome is one of the few major cities where a lot of the best things are free. Caravaggio paintings hang in churches you can walk into, state museums open their doors for free on the first Sunday of every month and the Vatican Museums on the last, and the views from the Janiculum and the Pincio cost nothing at all.

Here are 18 free things to do in Rome, including what has changed recently.

Admiring Caravaggio’s masterpieces

The top free things to do in Rome

Caravaggio, one of Italy’s greatest painters, lived and worked in Rome in the late 16th and early 17th century. He became widely known for his exceptional use of light, and unsettling realism, and also gained a notorious reputation for his tumultuous private life. So tumultuous in fact, that he’s said to have fled Rome after killing a man during a brawl!

Today one can admire many of his masterpieces in churches, with free admission, all across the Eternal City-this is definitely one of the best free things to do in Rome.

One of the must-see churches is the church of San Luigi dei Francesi near Piazza Navona, featuring his famous paintings of St. Matthew: The Calling of St. Matthew, The Martyrdom of St. Matthew and St. Matthew and the Angel.

Not far from this church, is the church of Sant’Agostino, where you can find his Madonna del Loreto.

His Crucifixion of Saint Peter and the Conversion of St Paul you’ll find inside the Basilica of  Santa Maria del Popolo, in the square of the same name.

Read more about Caravaggio in Rome


Taking a peek through the Knights of Malta keyhole

The top free things to do in Rome

Perched on top of the lesser known, but no less impressive, Aventine hill is the keyhole of the Knights of Malta. It’s one of the city’s most enchanting off-the-beaten track sights and can be visited any time of the day, for free. The reason for trudging up a hill and peering through a keyhole might seem obscure to some, but once you’ve glimpsed the view, it makes complete sense. The keyhole is perfectly aligned with trimmed hedges, which then leads the eye to the perfectly framed St. Peter’s Dome. Once there, don’t miss a visit to the enchanting Orange Garden.

Read more about Rome’s Aventine Neighbourhood


Free museums on the first Sunday of the month

The top free things to do in Rome

One of the best free things to do in Rome is visiting one of the city’s museums on the first Sunday of the month. Running since July 2014, Domenica al museo, or Sunday at the museum, offers free admission every first Sunday of the month, all year round, to Italy’s state-owned museums, galleries, archaeological sites, monumental parks and gardens.

In Rome, these include the Pantheon, the Roman Forum and the Colosseum, the Borghese Gallery (booking required) and Caracalla’s baths. It can get incredibly busy on these first Sundays, so head out early to avoid the crowds, and check whether the sights you’d like to visit require an online reservation or work on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information and a full list of the places you can visit for free, head over to the Ministry of Culture website.


Enjoy a free classical concert every Sunday at one of the largest palaces in the world

The top free things to do in Rome

The Palazzo del Quirinale, or Quirinal Palace, hosts a free classical music concert in its Paolina chapel every Sunday at 12pm. Booking is mandatory. You can either book online, or phone their call centre. The only cost is the €2.50 charged for making the reservation. For more information you can visit the Quirinal Palace website.

Read more about The Grand Palaces Of Rome


Admire the Colossus of Constantine

Colossus of Constantine

A full-scale recreation of the colossal statue of Constantine is on display (for free!) in the garden of Villa Caffarelli at the Capitoline Museums. Built in the early 4th century, only a few marble fragments of the original remain, but experts have reconstructed it to its exact size, an impressive 13 meters tall. Painted to match its original look, the statue offers a glimpse into ancient Rome’s grandeur.

Read more about The Colossus of Constantine


Go on a free, guided walking tour of Rome

The top free things to do in Rome

Without a guide we can sometimes miss a lot of the stories behind the places we visit, but paying for one isn’t always possible, especially if you’re traveling on a tight budget. Luckily there are a few tour companies, like Rome Free Walking Tour, Guru Walk and Free Tour Rome that offer free Rome walking tours.

Some companies ask only that you tip your guide, and others ask that you make a reservation online. For more information head over to their websites.


Visit St. Peter’s Basilica

The top free things to do in Rome

Visiting the largest church in Christendom is a must-see for anyone visiting Rome. Entering the impressive basilica is free, but the lines to get into St. Peter’s can sometimes be just as impressive as the basilica itself, so make sure you get there early.

The Basilica is open every day from 7am, with closing times that vary by season. Also make sure that you’re dressed appropriately. Men and women’s shoulders and knees should be covered; otherwise you’ll be turned away at the door, no matter how long you’ve been waiting.

Although visiting the basilica is free, the dome and treasury museum have entrance fees. Click here to buy your tickets for St.Peter’s Dome

Book a Vatican Museums Tour


See the Pope at the Papal Audience or Sunday Angelus

pope leo XIV angelus

Seeing the Pope in person doesn’t cost a thing. Every Wednesday at 10am, Pope Leo XIV holds the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square or, in colder months, in the Paul VI Audience Hall. The ceremony usually opens with a ride through the crowd in the Popemobile, followed by a short catechesis and a blessing. Tickets are free, but you need to request them in advance from the Prefecture of the Papal Household.

If you’d rather skip the paperwork, go on Sunday. At noon the Pope leads the Angelus from the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square, with a short prayer and blessing. No ticket is required: just go through security and join the crowd.

There are no audiences in July, when the Pope spends part of the summer in Castel Gandolfo. For dates, ticket requests and tips for the day, read our guide on how to see the Pope in Rome.


Vatican Museums are free on the last Sunday of the month

Top Free Things to do and see in Rome

Explore one of the most important sites in the world, the Vatican Museums, which feature incredible art collections, including masterpieces of inestimable historical and artistic value: undoubtedly one of the most famous museums in the world. On the last Sunday of each month the Vatican Museums are free of charge, it may be necessary to wait at the entrance during this special opening as it is not possible to book online. The opening hours are from 9am to 2pm, last admission at 12:30 pm: visit the official website of the Vatican Museums for more information.

Read more about The Vatican Museums


Take a street art walking tour throughout Rome neighbourhoods

Street art has become an important phenomenon all over the world, and Rome is no exception. Walking in almost every district of the city you can admire a series of murals and graffiti created by a series of artists, some even internationally renowned. Discover the thousand identities of the many different neighborhoods of the city: Garbatella, San Basilio, Quadraro, San Lorenzo, Pigneto: a real open-air museum, with no entrance fee!

Read more about Street Art in Rome


See the Trevi Fountain

Guide to Rome's Centro Storico Neighbourhood

The Trevi Fountain is the most famous fountain in the world, attracting over 10 million visitors a year. This extraordinary Baroque fountain is an ensemble of mythical figures and wild horses occupying the entire side of Palazzo Poli. When visiting the Fontana di Trevi, it’s tradition to toss a coin over your shoulder to ensure your return to the Eternal City.

The fountain is still free to admire from Piazza di Trevi at any time. Since 2 February 2026, however, close-up access to the basin (“catino”) costs €2 for tourists and non-residents, daily from 9am to 10pm, while residents, children up to 5 and people with disabilities enter for free. Read more here.


Enjoying a picnic or a bike ride along the Parco degli Acquedotti and Ancient Appian Way

parco degli acquedotti

Just outside the city center is one of Rome’s most famous parks – the Parco degli Acquedotti. Far away from the hustle and bustle of the city you’ll find a park with pathways filled with streams, pine trees, and ancient aqueducts. The park is a great historical site and an excellent location for  running and cycling. Plus, entry is free! And just a short bike ride from the park you’ll find the Ancient Appian Way – one of the most famous ancient roman roads. Along Via Appia Antica you’ll encounter numerous monuments, milestones, basilicas and tombs. During ancient Roman times, the road was essential in transporting troops down Brindisi’s port in southeast Italy.  

The park is open from sunrise to sunset, where the sun rays lay over the massive aqueducts, framed by pine trees. If instead of visiting the Ancient Appian Way and Parco degli Acquedotti on your own you’d rather visit them with a group or with a guide, we recommend you reserve a guided bike ride tour here or a golf cart tour on the Appia Antica.


Get a stunning panoramic view from the Pincio terrace

terrazza del pincio

Rome is well-known for its remarkable history and architecture. And the Pincio Terrace in Villa Borghese is the perfect spot to view Rome from the top. From the terrace you can admire the view of beautiful Piazza del Popolo, the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica and much more. The Pincio terrace sits right above Piazza del Popolo, at the end of Via del Corso, and is open to the visitors every day, at all times. The best time to come is at sunset.


Exploring the architectural and artistic masterpieces of the hundreds of churches in Rome

basilica-di-san-giovanni-in-laterano-roma

Visiting the many churches in Rome is a must for anyone. Did you know that Rome is home to more than 900 churches (including some of the oldest in the world)? So there’s no doubt the Eternal City is the most interesting place on Earth when it comes to visiting basilicas, cathedrals and churches. But it’s not just the religious aspect that draws millions of people to visit churches in Rome – each one is unique and boasts architectural or artistic masterpieces, some are even the burial site of some true greats. Among the most beautiful churches to visit there’s the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere – the oldest church in Rome dedicated to the Virgin Mary – featuring six golden mosaics by Pietro Cavallini; the glorious church of Sant’Ignazio di Loyola in Campo Marzio with frescoes by Andrea Pozzo; and the Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter in Chains) home to the relic of Saint Peter’s chains when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem and Michelangelo’s Moses.


Enjoy a stroll or bike ride along the Tiber River

Free things to do in Rome

The city of Rome has the Tiber River to thank for making it into the developed area it is today–this vital resource is said to be where the city truly began. Today you can enjoy a peaceful walk or scenic bike ride along the water. The bike trail starts from the Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura and extends all the way to the Stadio Olimpico, covering a total distance of nearly 10 km along the banks of the Tiber River. The path traverses some of the city’s most popular areas, yet it remains below street level, away from traffic and intersections.


Pay tribute to the former Jewish Ghetto

free things to do in Rome
Photo by Daniele Dorelly flickr.com/photos/danmagma/

In 1555 the Catholic Church chose to revoke all rights of Italy’s large Jewish population and have them confined to this area in Rome. This was just one of many mandates that allowed the Church to establish more control over the Jewish population. In this ghetto people were not allowed to carry out any kind of trade or own any land. Despite the circumstances, the population persisted and survived. Today the Synagogue and the Jewish Museum are some of the most popular tourist attractions as it represents the perseverance and fortitude of an oppressed population.

This destination is of course meaningful in a historical and religious sense, but that is not all it has to offer its visitors. The area is considered one of the most beautiful neighborhoods of Rome and offers an excellent culinary experience from the many restaurants throughout the area.

Read more about Rome’s Jewish Ghetto


Take in the views from the Janiculum Hill

 free things to do in Rome
Photo by Daniele Dorelly flickr.com/photos/danmagma/

Taking in the stunning views of the capital is definitely one of the best free things to do in Rome. The Janiculum Hill (or Gianicolo) consists of two large avenues that offer gorgeous scenes of the city of Rome. The two paths are lined with beautiful trees and border Villa Aurelia. They merge into one path in the Piazzale Garibaldi that descends down toward the church of Sant’Onofrio. 

The Janiculum Promenade offers views of historic Rome that you cannot get anywhere else. Walking along this path you will also encounter 84 statues of the notable Garibaldi soldiers, the equestrian statue of Garibaldi, the equestrian monument of Anita Garibaldi, and the Lighthouse donated by a community of Italians in Argentina. If you reach the Belvedere del Gianicolo at 12:00pm you can experience a tradition that has been held since 1904, in which three soldiers will load a blank howitzer and fire the cannon shot. 


Visit one of Rome’s free museums

vaccheria-rome

Not every museum in Rome comes with a ticket. A handful of city-run museums are free for everyone, such as the Museum of the Walls inside Porta San Sebastiano and the Museum of the Roman Republic on the Janiculum, while in EUR La Vaccheria, a former dairy farm, hosts contemporary art shows with free entry. Near the Trevi Fountain, the Accademia di San Luca also opens its gallery for free.

Since February 2026, residents of Rome and its metropolitan area get free entry all year round to city-run sites such as the Capitoline Museums and the Ara Pacis, while some previously free museums, including Villa di Massenzio and the Carlo Bilotti Museum, now charge non-residents. Here’s what changed in 2026.

Read more about Rome’s Free Museums

The post Free Things to Do in Rome appeared first on Romeing.

A Roma il Museo Storico della Fanteria ospita, fino al 25 gennaio 2026, Picasso – Il linguaggio delle idee.

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FOOD. Tasting Art at Chiostro del Bramante

Food as an experience, a form of memory, a language, an artistic expression

How many great stories have begun around a table? From cinema and literature to theatre and religious traditions, the act of gathering around a table, whether to eat or prepare food, reveals something about who we are and how we feel.

Until 29 March 2027 at the Chiostro del Bramante, a few steps away from Piazza Navona, you can have a “taste” of the cultural and sociological representation of food through the centuries. Curated by Suzanne Landau, the exhibition features 190 artworks narrating food through the body, desire, identity, power and society, and accompanies visitors of all ages through the deeper meaning of food. The visit includes an educational programme and an audioguide in which eight figures from Rome’s food culture, from fruit sellers to market stallholders, comment on eight artworks, offering a view of art far from that of the critic.

With “FOOD. Tasting Art”, the Chiostro del Bramante invites everyone to explore food through five centuries of art, across different levels of experience: memory, the body, culture, imagination and ecology.

Food for thought, indeed

Bartolomeo Bimbi, Natura morta con ciliegie, 1699
Bartolomeo Bimbi
Natura morta con ciliegie, 1699
Olio su tela / Oil on Canvas
Courtesy Ministero della Cultura – Ville e Residenze
Monumentali Fiorentine, Villa medicea di Poggio a
Caiano, Museo della Natura Morta. Foto Gianluca Passarelli

Lemons, peaches, pears, ceramics, forks, knives, plates, people depicted eating or arguing around the kitchen table: they can be seen everywhere in this exhibition. From the everyday act of eating to the symbolic, social and cultural dimension of conviviality, food becomes the protagonist of an exhibition that encourages visitors to look with new eyes at what belongs to our most intimate and collective experience. The show brings together more than 60 international artists, including Marina Abramović, who opens the show with a video, David LaChapelle, Sophie Calle, Vanessa Beecroft, Bartolomeo Bimbi, Christian Berentz, Yinka Shonibare, Piero Gilardi, Carrie Mae Weems, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Daniel Spoerri and Ernesto Neto.

Artists transformed the act of eating and food into a visual language, while reflecting on our identities, politics, social status, pleasures and taboos. Food became an allegory, a metaphor, a rebellion, an expression of love, labour, memory and desire.

Suzanne Landau, curator of the exhibition

Food as a tool for reflection on the present

Bartolomeo Bimbi, Natura morta con arance, lime, limoni e lumie, ante 1715
Bartolomeo Bimbi
Natura morta con arance, lime, limoni e lumie, ante 1715
Olio su tela / Oil on Canvas
Courtesy Ministero della Cultura – Ville e Residenze
Monumentali Fiorentine, Villa medicea di Poggio a
Caiano, Museo della Natura Morta

One of the exhibition’s main takeaways is the realisation that food, whether we are eating it, preparing it or simply thinking about it, is everywhere. It surrounds us and touches virtually every aspect of human life. From religious paintings and magnificent 16th-century still lifes to Bompas & Parr’s immersive installation recreating a Pasta Shell Grotto inside the museum, the exhibition offers a remarkable variety of perspectives. Another highlight is Sweet Memories by Simone Post: a miniature flat covered in marshmallows and sweets, complete with a washing machine.

This is an exhibition well worth visiting with family or friends, whether to admire beautiful paintings, reflect on everyday rituals, or discuss your favourite Italian dish around a table that seems to have stepped straight out of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

The post FOOD. Tasting Art at Chiostro del Bramante appeared first on Romeing.

Bartolomeo Bimbi Natura morta con ciliegie , 1699 Olio su tela / Oil on Canvas 113 x 152 cm (senza cornice); 175 x 200 x 20 (senza cornice) Courtesy Ministero della Cultura - Ville e Residenze Monumentali Fiorentine, Villa medicea di Poggio a Caiano, Museo della Natura Morta -Foto Gianluca Passarelli

Bartolomeo Bimbi Natura morta con arance, lime, limoni e lumie, ante 1715 Olio su tela / Oil on Canvas 174 x 233 cm (senza cornice); 199 x 258 x 11,5 cm (con cornice) Courtesy Ministero della Cultura - Ville e Residenze Monumentali Fiorentine, Villa medicea di Poggio a Caiano, Museo della Natura Morta

The Race Club Speakeasy Rome

Race Club Speakeasy is the Colosseum’s underground cocktail bar

A stone’s throw from the Colosseum, The Race Club is a speakeasy bar that’s fast becoming a beloved late-night underground den. Hidden from plain sight, this member’s only bar is seriously dedicated to its cocktails. Sit back and relax on one of their plush sofas and Chester with a well-mixed libation unique to Race Club’s menu.

From the outside, The Race Club Roma Speakeasy is easy to miss. This bar stands on a street close to the Colosseum—one of those streets people walk down every day without even knowing that there’s another great Roman gem around the corner. But The Race Club is here, hiding in the dark, waiting to be discovered.

the-race-club-speakeasy-rome

When you walk inside, with half-assembled motorcycles strewn around the place, it looks like a biker shop, or some kind of mechanic’s garage, but don’t let that fool you. Step into the office, and suddenly you’re standing in front of a staircase. Walk down those steps, and you’ll find yourself somewhere entirely new, as if you’ve walked through Alice’s looking glass from one world into another.

And this world is luxurious, relaxing, with the sweet melodies of songs—think jazz, think classic American rock tunes—welcoming you in as you find a couch to sink into. The lights that hang down, almost swaying to the music, are gentle, and they paint into gold the love seats and coffee tables, the newspaper clippings decorating one little corner, and the vintage picture frames, and photographs and books in another. In your new little secret saloon, you can find your favorite seat and relax with your drink of choice.

cocktails-the-race-club-speakeasy-rome
cocktails-the-race-club-speakeasy-rome

Race GpT: the drink list

Cocktails are the real reason to find your way down here. The Race Club’s new drink list is called Race GpT, and the idea behind it is simple: drinks designed around the guest, with presentations that go well beyond the glass.

You can pick one of the house signatures or ask the bartenders for a classic, made the way you like it. The signatures are where the menu has the most fun. Baby-Ron arrives in a baby bottle, mixing rum with Plasmon biscuits blended in soy milk. Mezzo Pieno is a savoury twist on bourbon, fat-washed with guanciale from Amatrice and finished with white truffle. Al Pachino #1 pairs vodka with Pachino tomato and basil, served with a pasta straw, while Cagiva Mi-To is a smoky take on the Negroni, made with Laphroaig and cedar wood smoke. For Fede Alcolica the recipe stays secret: you’ll have to ask the staff.

Most cocktails cost €20. If you’re planning to stay for a second round, the Doppio Giro offer gets you two drinks for €35, with the membership card included for free.

the-race-club-speakeasy-rome
the-race-club-speakeasy-rome-colosseum

The Race Club Roma Speakeasy takes reservations on their website, and it can accommodate large groups for special events (also private parties) such as birthday parties. To be part of the club, you have to pay a €5-membership card, and trust me: it’s worth it.

The post The Race Club Speakeasy Rome appeared first on Romeing.

Scopri il programma di Open House Roma 2026 e scegli cosa visitare tra centinaia di edifici e luoghi davvero imperdibili.

Restaurants in Rome's Campo di Fiori Neighbourhood

Scopri il programma di Open House Roma 2026 e scegli cosa visitare tra centinaia di edifici e luoghi davvero imperdibili.

Richard Avedon at Palazzo Esposizioni Roma: Faces of the American West

110 Black-and-White Portraits Reveal a Different Side of American Life

From October 9, 2026 to January 31, 2027, Palazzo Esposizioni Roma presents Richard Avedon. In the American West, 1979–1984, an exhibition dedicated to one of the American photographer’s most ambitious projects. Curated by Clément Chéroux, director of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, it brings together all 110 portraits from Avedon’s 1985 book In the American West for the first time in Italy, alongside archived materials that reveal how the series came together.

As you enter the galleries, the first thing that stands out is how little surrounds the people in the photographs. There are no sweeping desert landscapes or picturesque Western towns. Instead, visitors come face-to-face with the people who lived and worked there.

14 Sandra Bennett, twelve year old, Rocky Ford, Colorado, August 23, 1980
Sandra Bennett, twelve year old, Rocky Ford, Colorado, August 23, 1980. Photograph by Richard Avedon © The Richard Avedon Foundation

From Fashion Magazines to the American West

By the late 1970s, Avedon had already established himself as one of America’s most celebrated photographers. Known for his fashion photography for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, he had spent much of his career photographing models, celebrities and public figures. But for this project, he turned his attention to people who rarely appeared in front of a professional camera.

The idea began in 1978, after a photograph Avedon took of a Montana ranch foreman caught the attention of the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Beginning in 1979, he spent five years travelling through 21 states, stopping at truck stops, livestock markets, slaughterhouses, mining camps and oil fields. He photographed more than a thousand people, eventually selecting the portraits that would appear in his book.

The timing was significant. While popular television shows portrayed an image of American wealth and success, recession and deindustrialization were affecting working communities across the country. Avedon’s subjects offered a very different view of the West.

The Power of Simplicity

Moving along the gallery walls, you begin to notice the same approach in every photograph. Each person stands against a plain white backdrop, photographed from the front in natural light. Without a workplace or surrounding landscape to distract you, the smallest details become impossible to ignore: a stained shirt, a tired expression, a particular way of holding the hands.

The people in the photos are identified by their names, occupations, and the places and dates they were photographed. Among them are coal miners, farmworkers, truck drivers and young children. Some look directly at the camera with confidence while others seem uncomfortable or guarded. Together, their portraits go against the familiar image of the American West as a place defined by cowboys and open landscapes.

Although the images may seem random, Avedon carefully arranged each sitting. Working outdoors with a large-format camera, he watched how his subjects moved and reacted, sometimes directing their poses. The result sits somewhere between a documentary record and a portrait deliberately constructed by the photographer.

The photographs are displayed in the same sequence as the original book, with blank spaces on the walls representing its empty pages. This unusual arrangement gives visitors a chance to pause between faces rather than rush from one portrait to the next.

24 David Beason, shipping clerk, Denver, Colorado, July 25, 1981
David Beason, shipping clerk, Denver, Colorado, July 25, 1981. Photograph by Richard Avedon © The Richard Avedon Foundation

A Beekeeper Covered in Bees

One of the most memorable portraits is that of Ronald Fischer, a beekeeper photographed in Davis, California, in 1981. Standing shirtless before Avedon’s camera, Fischer is covered in bees, with insects clustered across his body. It is an image that is difficult to pass without stopping.

A nearby explanation reveals just how carefully the photograph was planned. Fischer’s body was coated in queen bee pheromone to attract the swarm, and Avedon made 121 exposures over two days. He ultimately chose the image in which Fischer appears almost meditative despite the insects surrounding him. The portrait makes clear that Avedon was not simply recording what happened to be in front of him; he was also creating the conditions for an extraordinary image.

Glass display case holding two Avedon work prints covered in handwritten printing notes and markings from the Avedon Studio
Photo Daniele Molajoli © Azienda Speciale Palaexpo

Beyond the Finished Photograph

Elsewhere, the exhibition opens up the process behind the portraits through archival material from the Richard Avedon Foundation. Visitors can see Polaroids taken before sittings, handwritten notes and correspondence with the people photographed. The Polaroids were not just tests: their numbers connected each person to a file containing their name, permission to publish and contact details, allowing the studio to later send them a print, a book and an exhibition invitation.

Some of the silver gelatin prints still carry Avedon’s handwritten instructions to his printers, indicating which areas should be enhanced or softened. These small traces show the work that went into photographs whose simplicity can otherwise seem effortless.

Particularly revealing is a letter from Cheryl Harrison to Avedon, written after the original exhibition opened in 1985. She describes how much the experience meant to her family and suggests that anyone who looked beyond the photography would see the people themselves. Her words give the sitters a voice in a series that initially sparked debate over how the American West had been portrayed.

First shown at the Amon Carter Museum in 1985, In the American West has since become a landmark of twentieth-century portrait photography. At Palazzo Esposizioni Roma, the impact lies not only in the images themselves but in the time you spend looking at each person. Running until January 31, 2027, the exhibition invites visitors to see an America often overlooked, one face at a time.

The post Richard Avedon at Palazzo Esposizioni Roma: Faces of the American West appeared first on Romeing.

Photo Daniele Molajoli © Azienda Speciale Palaexpo

Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza Reopens: How to Visit Borromini’s Masterpiece

Palazzo della Sapienza: Borromini, the State Archives and the Biblioteca Alessandrina

After years of closure and a long restoration, Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza reopened to the public on 27 October 2026. Francesco Borromini‘s church, which overlooks the courtyard of Palazzo della Sapienza on Corso del Rinascimento, can be visited for free from Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 1:30pm.

Visitors are welcomed by volunteers from the Touring Club Italiano, who, as part of the Aperti per voi project, show them around the courtyard and the church. The reopening is the result of a collaboration between the Touring Club, the State Archives of Rome and the Diocese of Rome.

The church sits at the heart of Palazzo della Sapienza, one of the most important complexes of Roman Baroque. Construction began in the mid-fifteenth century and was completed at the end of the seventeenth, with contributions from Giacomo della Porta and Borromini. For centuries the palazzo was home to the Studium Urbis, Rome’s ancient university. Today it houses offices of the Italian Senate and the State Archives of Rome with the Biblioteca Alessandrina, which holds documents from the nineteenth century to the present day.

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Church of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza in Rome
Palazzo della Sapienza, Church of Sant’Ivo, ph.: ©Fabio Caricchia

Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza: Borromini’s masterpiece

Borromini was appointed architect of the Sapienza in 1632 by Pope Urban VIII and worked on the church from 1642 to 1660, adapting his ideas to the existing buildings. The plan is based on a six-pointed star inscribed in a hexagon, with a constant interplay of concave and convex lines that rises to the famous spiral lantern, decorated with tongues of flame and visible from many points of the historic centre. The altarpiece is by Pietro da Cortona.

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Interior of the church of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza in Rome
Palazzo della Sapienza, Church of Sant’Ivo, ph.: ©Fabio Caricchia

Palazzo della Sapienza: restoration and structural safety work

Restoration and safety work on the complex, overseen by the Soprintendenza Speciale di Roma, began in 2016, after the earthquake that struck central Italy on 30 October that year. The first phase brought structural improvements, consolidating the building’s original load-bearing system without visible intrusion, along with careful conservation work.

The work covered the entire monumental complex: the lantern of Sant’Ivo; several rooms of the State Archives of Rome, including the great hall of the Biblioteca Alessandrina, built by Borromini in 1665; the offices of the Italian Senate; and the parts of the building constructed between 1595 and 1602 by Giacomo della Porta, a pupil of Michelangelo and Vignola, who designed the courtyard before Borromini’s intervention.

Biblioteca Alessandrina in Palazzo della Sapienza, Rome
Palazzo della Sapienza, Biblioteca Alessandrina, ph.: ©Fabio Caricchia

The final phase focused on the church. Between 2024 and spring 2026, funded by the PNRR Caput Mundi programme, cleaning, consolidation and the removal of deteriorated plaster restored the architectural surfaces of Sant’Ivo and the complex, bringing back what Superintendent Daniela Porro called “a return of Borromini’s white”, the colour the architect used to give movement to space. The next step will be a new lighting system, supported by a private sponsor.

“The restoration and structural safety work on Palazzo della Sapienza is the clearest example of the role the Soprintendenza Speciale di Roma plays in protecting Rome’s artistic and architectural heritage. It is an important intervention that has given this architectural gem back its true value, made possible only by different institutions working side by side in a harmonious and productive way,” said Daniela Porro, Special Superintendent of Rome, at the end of the first phase of work.

Borromini's Corridor in Palazzo della Sapienza
Palazzo della Sapienza, Borromini’s Corridor, ph.: ©Fabio Caricchia

Borromini’s Corridor

One of the most significant results of the restoration is the recovery of Borromini’s Corridor, a pedestrian passage between the palazzo and Piazza Sant’Eustachio built between 1659 and 1664. Located in the northern part of the building and long used as a storeroom and garage, the corridor was inaugurated at the end of September 2021, after its original walls and floor were restored, giving the complex back its historic entrance from Piazza Sant’Eustachio.

Palazzo della Sapienza, exterior
Palazzo della Sapienza, exterior, ph.: ©Fabio Caricchia
Palazzo della Sapienza, exterior on Corso del Rinascimento
Palazzo della Sapienza, exterior, ph.: ©Fabio Caricchia

Complesso monumentale di Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza
Corso del Rinascimento, 40

The Church of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza is open Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 1:30pm. Admission is free.

For opening hours and access to the State Archives of Rome and the Biblioteca Alessandrina, visit the State Archives website.

The post Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza Reopens: How to Visit Borromini’s Masterpiece appeared first on Romeing.

From opera to jazz, from rock to classical music, summer festivals in Rome have got it all. Read on and mark your calendars accordingly.

Rome Turns Nordic: Novembre Nordico Returns to the City

From 3 November to 13 December, more than 30 events across the city celebrate the art, music, design and traditions of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

When people think of Rome, the first things that come to mind are history, art and Roman food. Yet for more than a month the city also turns its gaze north: Novembre Nordico returns for its fifth edition with Tracce nordiche a Roma, a festival that brings the culture, art and traditions of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden to the capital.

From 3 November to 13 December, the Nordic embassies, the Circolo Scandinavo and the four Nordic cultural and scientific institutes, the Danish Academy, the Finnish Institute, the Norwegian Institute and the Swedish Institute of Classical Studies, have put together more than 30 events across the city, many of them free.

Music, literature, food, art, design and cinema all have a place in a program built to bring Italian and Nordic cultures closer, through exhibitions, concerts, walks, talks, cooking classes and workshops for children.

Villa Lante on the Janiculum, home of the Institutum Romanum Finlandiae
Villa Lante, home of the Institutum Romanum Finlandiae

Art, design and history

Two special events open the way before the official start. On 27 October, the Finnish trio FREETA performs a contemporary folk concert at Villa Lante, in collaboration with the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. On 28 October, the Hessenza showroom hosts RYTSOLA, Meet the Designer, a presentation of the Finnish family company’s interior design collections, including RYTSOLA x MOOMIN, inspired by the famous characters created by Tove Jansson.

The program officially opens at the Danish Academy with 70 anni di vita e arte all’Accademia di Danimarca, a series of exhibitions marking the institute’s 70th anniversary, open on selected dates from 3 to 28 November. It is made up of three shows: Painted in Rome, Photographed in Rome and Danish Design in Rome. On 10, 17 and 24 November, free guided tours (booking required) also reveal the history and architecture of the Academy.

Sweden’s bond with the city runs through Queen Christina, born 400 years ago. On 2, 3 and 5 November, the Archivio di Stato hosts Cristina di Svezia tra storia, arte e libertà, three days of guided tours, workshops and talks linked to the exhibition Come sole frà le stelle. On 11 November the Swedish Institute celebrates the anniversary with an evening of history, Baroque dance and music, and on 15 November visitors can enter the historic halls of the Vatican Apostolic Library to see manuscripts from the Queen’s collection.

Villa Lante on the Janiculum, designed by Giulio Romano and home of the Finnish Institute, also opens its doors on an exceptional basis on 6 and 20 November.

INSPIRATION
The Best Events in November in Rome

Music, dance and performance

For lovers of the performing arts, from 6 to 8 November the Embassy of Norway brings Cirkus Antero to the Mattatoio as part of Romaeuropa Festival, a show by Norwegian performer, juggler and author Frida Odden Brinkmann. On 7 and 8 November, Teatro Vascello hosts How Romantic, by Greek choreographer Katerina Andreou with Carte Blanche, Norway’s national dance company.

Music plays a leading role in this edition. From 10 November to 3 December, the second edition of Organum Multiplum, presented by Villa Lontana, brings contemporary organ music to churches such as Santa Maria in Aracoeli, Santa Cecilia in Trastevere and the Pantheon. On 12 November, the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano hosts the premiere of For Organ and Brass by Swedish composer Ellen Arkbro.

Classical music takes center stage at Villa Lante with two concerts dedicated to Jean Sibelius, marking 125 years since his stay in Italy, and to other twentieth-century composers. Finnish baritone Tommi Hakala performs on 18 November, followed on 23 November by Finnish-Spanish soprano Iris Candelaria.

Literature, gastronomy and traditions

Literature is another key part of the festival. On 17 November, at the Spazio Sette bookshop, Norwegian author Aslak Nore presents L’alleanza di ghiaccio, the third and final chapter of his Falck family saga. The program also includes readings, author meetings and book presentations on Nordic culture and design.

To get a closer look at everyday life in Northern Europe, the festival also offers food events and activities for families. On 17 November, Kimmo Kettunen, chef of the Finnish Embassy, leads a free online cooking class on lihapiirakka, a fried meat-filled pastry and a symbol of Finnish street food. On 26 November, another online workshop teaches how to make Swedish köttbullar, the famous meatballs.

The Christmas atmosphere will not be missing: the Swedish Christmas market at the Church of Sweden in Rome returns on 20, 21 and 28 November, with food specialties and festive decorations.

Christmas market decorations at the Church of Sweden in Rome
Christmas market decorations at the Church of Sweden

Discovering Nordic Rome

For those who want to see the city in a different way, the Circolo Scandinavo leads three Nordic walks on 7 and 28 November and 13 December, following the traces left by Scandinavian artists in Rome from the eighteenth century to today.

The festival closes on 13 December with the opening of Borders, the new chapter of the OPENBOX7 exhibition project by the Associazione Amici dell’Aventino, created with the Circolo Scandinavo. The exhibition, which explores the idea of borders as a cause of violence and forced migration, runs until 28 February 2027.

Between art, music, literature and popular traditions, Novembre Nordico invites Romans and visitors alike to look at the city from a different perspective. For more than a month, Rome becomes a meeting point between Italy and Northern Europe.

For more information and the full calendar, visit the official Novembre Nordico program. To discover the other cultural institutes in the city, read our guide to foreign academies and institutes in Rome.


Festival venues

  • Danish Academy: Via Omero 18
  • Villa Lante, Finnish Institute: Passeggiata del Gianicolo 10
  • Norwegian Institute: Viale Trenta Aprile 33
  • Swedish Institute of Classical Studies: Via Omero 14
  • Circolo Scandinavo: Via di Santa Sabina 8
  • Archivio di Stato di Roma: Corso del Rinascimento 40
  • Mattatoio: Piazza Orazio Giustiniani 4
  • Teatro Vascello: Via Giacinto Carini 78
  • Spazio Sette: Via dei Barbieri 7
  • Hessenza: Via di Montoro 10
  • Church of Sweden in Rome: Via Antonio Bertoloni 1E

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A Guide To The Best Events In November 2026 In Rome

Discovering the best things to do in Rome in November

November brings some of the year’s most interesting experiences in Rome for anyone who loves culture. As autumn settles over the city, the calendar fills up: Roma Jazz Festival takes over the Auditorium and Casa del Jazz for most of the month, Romaeuropa Festival reaches its final weeks, Roma Arte in Nuvola gathers around 140 galleries at EUR, and for one night Museums in Music keeps the city’s museums open until 2am. Later in the month, the Vienna Philharmonic and Riccardo Muti perform at Saint Paul Outside the Walls.

Here are the best events in Rome in November 2026, from art exhibitions to concerts, festivals and film.

Exhibitions this November in Rome

November in Rome brings the autumn’s major exhibitions at full strength, plus one of the most anticipated openings of the season.

The big news is Marina Abramović at the Galleria Nazionale, opening November 18 for the artist’s 80th birthday. The show pairs landmark performances such as The Artist Is Present with her Transitory Objects, stone and crystal structures that visitors can sit or lie on. On view until April 4, 2027.

Vassily Kandinsky at Palazzo Bonaparte remains the season’s biggest draw, the first monographic show devoted to the Russian master of abstraction in Rome in 25 years. Advance booking is recommended.

The two big October openings are also on view: Keith Haring at the Museo di Roma at Palazzo Braschi, with over 140 works from the Nakamura Collection tracing his path from New York subway drawings to his final paintings, and Pontormo at the Scuderie del Quirinale, the first monographic exhibition ever devoted to the Florentine master of Mannerism, built around loans from the Uffizi. At the Museo Storico della Fanteria, Renato Guttuso: Mediterranean Soul pays tribute to one of the great figures of 20th-century Italian painting.

At Palazzo Esposizioni, Richard Avedon: In the American West 1979-1984 shows all 110 portraits from the celebrated series. Ranch hands, miners, waitresses and drifters were photographed outdoors against a plain white backdrop, and the prints hang alongside working Polaroids and letters from the archive. On view until January 31, 2027.

Near the Spanish Steps, PM23, the cultural space of the Fondazione Valentino Garavani e Giancarlo Giammetti, presents AURA, which pairs Valentino Garavani with the Polish painter Ewa Juszkiewicz, on view until February 21. Just outside, in Piazza Mignanelli, stands Selva, a work by Edoardo Tresoldi, the artist known for his wire-mesh architectures.

Still on view: Diego Rivera at the Musei Capitolini, in its final weeks until December 13; FOOD. The Taste in Art at the Chiostro del Bramante; AQVA at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, which opens the five-year cycle Catastrophe and Wonder with JR, Bill Moran and chef Fulvio Pierangelini; and Andy Warhol: Forever Love, free to visit at La Vaccheria in EUR through March 2027.


Best events in November in Rome

bob-dylan-concert-rome

Live music

What better way to feel the heartbeat of Rome than catching some live music? Alongside the Roma Jazz Festival, November is packed with concerts for every taste.

discover more Live music in November


November 1 – 24 | Roma Jazz Festival

Rome’s historic jazz festival reaches its 50th edition with a programme dedicated to the centenary of Miles Davis. Paolo Fresu opens on November 1 with Kind of Lives, followed by Kurt Elling with the Yellowjackets, Steve Coleman and Five Elements, Gonzalo Rubalcaba with Hamilton de Holanda, Erik Truffaz and Gregory Hutchinson. Italian names include Enzo Favata, Rosa Brunello and Chiara Civello with Clap! Clap!. Two concerts outside Rome celebrate John Coltrane’s centenary. The festival closes on November 24 with Jason Miles and 100 Miles for Miles Davis.

Auditorium, Alcazar, Casa del Jazz
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November 3 – December 13 | Novembre Nordico

From 3 November to 13 December, Rome turns its gaze north with the fifth edition of Novembre Nordico, a festival promoted by the embassies and cultural institutes of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. More than 30 events, many of them free, spread across the city. The program opens at the Danish Academy with a series of exhibitions celebrating its 70th anniversary, and includes concerts dedicated to Sibelius at Villa Lante, Norwegian dance and circus at Romaeuropa Festival, and events marking 400 years since the birth of Queen Christina of Sweden. You’ll also find book presentations, online cooking classes, Nordic walks and the Swedish Christmas market on 20, 21 and 28 November.

Danish Academy, Villa Lante, Swedish Institute, Circolo Scandinavo, Teatro Vascello, Mattatoio and other venues
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November 5 – 15 | MedFilm Festival

The MedFilm Festival brings Mediterranean cinema to the heart of Rome. Now in its 32nd edition, running from November 5 to 15, 2026, MedFilm is the city’s longest-running film festival and showcases films from the Mediterranean, the Middle East and North Africa. The programme includes premieres, international feature and short film competitions, retrospectives, masterclasses and panel discussions. This year it opens with the Italian premiere of Only Rebels Win by Danielle Arbid, and Palestinian director Rashid Masharawi receives the Lifetime Achievement Award. Screenings and events take place at The Space Cinema Moderno, the festival’s main venue, as well as Teatro Palladium, Archivio Flamigni and Casa del Cinema.

The Space Cinema Moderno, Teatro Palladium, Archivio Flamigni, Casa del Cinema
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Until November 15 | Romaeuropa Festival

November brings the closing weeks of Romaeuropa Festival, which runs until November 15. The 41st edition is one of the richest ever, with 100 shows, 240 performances and around 1,000 artists from all over the world. There’s still time to catch the final part of the autumn programme, with music, theatre, dance, digital arts and work created for younger audiences, staged at venues across the city.

more than 20 places in Rome
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November 20 – 22 | Roma Arte in Nuvola

Roma Arte in Nuvola, Rome’s international fair of modern and contemporary art, returns to Fuksas’s Nuvola in EUR for its sixth edition from November 20 to 22, 2026. Around 140 Italian and international galleries take part, with works ranging from painting and sculpture to photography and contemporary practices, plus the new Approdo Roma section.

Germany is this year’s guest country and presents the group exhibition Viaggio in Italia. Nostalgia dell’Italia, with works by artists including Candida Höfer and Thomas Struth. The programme also includes exhibitions dedicated to Giorgio de Chirico, Corrado Cagli and Hidetoshi Nagasawa, talks, performances and a satellite exhibition at the Casa Museo Mario Praz.

La Nuvola, Eur
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November 21 – 25 | International Festival of Sacred Music and Art

The International Festival of Sacred Music and Art returns to Rome and the Vatican for its 25th edition, from November 21 to 25, 2026. This year’s festival is dedicated to world peace and marks two anniversaries: 400 years since the dedication of St. Peter’s Basilica and 800 years since the death of St. Francis of Assisi.

It opens with a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on November 21, followed that evening by the Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Riccardo Muti, performing Mozart’s Coronation Mass at the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. The programme continues on November 22 with the choir of the Escolanía de El Escorial, again at Saint Paul Outside the Walls, followed by Monteverdi’s Vespers performed by the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir at the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major on November 23, and a Mozart evening at the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola on November 24 to mark the 270th anniversary of the composer’s birth.

St. Peter’s Basilica, Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola
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November 21 | Museums in Music

On Saturday, November 21, 2026, Museums in Music returns for its 16th edition. From 8pm to 2am, Rome’s museums stay open late for concerts and dance performances, including the Capitoline Museums, Centrale Montemartini, the Ara Pacis Museum, the Trajan’s Markets, the Museo di Roma at Palazzo Braschi and the museums of Villa Torlonia. State and private museums, foreign academies, universities and other cultural spaces across the city also take part.

Museums across Rome
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November 25 – 29 | Manifesto Fest

Manifesto Fest celebrates its tenth anniversary with four nights of electronic music, sound experimentation and visual arts, spread across three venues in Rome. The line-up mixes established names and new voices, including Kode9, Quantic, Mad Professor, Alessandro Cortini, Populous, Carmen Villain and Maria Arnal. It opens on November 25 at the Nuovo Teatro Orione, moves to the Chiesa Valdese on Via IV Novembre on November 27, and closes with two nights at Monk on November 28 and 29.

Nuovo Teatro Orione, Chiesa Valdese, Monk
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November 26 | Thanksgiving

Plenty of restaurants and venues in the Eternal City serve a classic Thanksgiving dinner, so you can celebrate with your loved ones without missing out on a thing.

Where to celebrate Thanksgiving in Rome


November 27 – December 4 | RIFF Awards, Rome Independent Film Festival

From November 27 to December 4, Rome becomes the capital of independent cinema with the 25th edition of the RIFF, the Rome Independent Film Festival. For a quarter of a century, the festival has brought new international cinema to the city, with Italian premieres of feature films, documentaries, shorts, animation and experimental work, plus a pitch session for screenplays. This year the programme also hosts the second chapter of the Climate Future Film Festival.

Nuovo Cinema Aquila, Cinema Palazzo San Lorenzo
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From November 27 | New Season at Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera

The new season at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma opens on November 27 with Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, returning to the Costanzi after 58 years in a new production conducted by Music Director Michele Mariotti and directed by Rafael R. Villalobos, making his Rome Opera debut. The season brings 12 new productions across opera and dance, with nine operas, two operas in concert featuring Anna Netrebko and Cecilia Bartoli, seven ballets, three special events and two tours by the Ballet Company. Discover the full programme at operaroma.it.

Rome Opera House
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November Markets in Rome

Explore Rome’s markets in all their variety: vintage finds and collectibles, artisan craft, independent fashion and design, Japanese culture and retro gaming, with something for every taste as the holiday season approaches.

  • Ficus al Massimo | Garum Museo della Cucina | 14-15 November
  • Roba Bella Market | Sabo District, Via Mesula 12 | 14-15 November
  • Unique Mkt | Industrie Fluviali | 14-15 November
  • Japan Days | Ippodromo Capannelle | 14-15 November
  • Domenica Vintage | Monk Rome | 15 November
  • Ficus al Massimo | Garum Museo della Cucina | 21-22 November
  • Unconventional Market | Mediterraneo al MAXXI | 21-22 November
  • Game Vintage Market | Fusolab, Viale della Bella Villa 96 | 21-22 November
  • Merkat | Alcazar Live | every weekend

discover more Markets in Rome

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Museums in Music 2026

Nighttime music performances in Rome’s museums

On Saturday 21 November 2026, Rome’s civic museums stay open late for the 16th edition of Musei in Musica (Museums in Music). From 8pm to 2am, concerts, dance and live performances take over the halls of the Capitoline Museums, the Ara Pacis, Villa Torlonia and more than a dozen other venues across the city.

Last year around 34,000 people took part, making it one of the most popular cultural nights of the year in Rome.

For one night, the museums of the Sistema Musei di Roma Capitale become stages for classical music, jazz, contemporary sounds, dance and theatre, with performances designed for the spaces that host them. It’s a chance to hear live music surrounded by ancient sculpture, Renaissance frescoes and modern art, and to see some of the city’s collections at an unusual hour.

The same ticket gives access to the performances, the permanent collections and the temporary exhibitions on show in each museum. Doors open at 8pm and close at 2am, with last entry at 1am. Admission costs €1 per museum.

The full programme of concerts and shows will be published in November on the Musei in Comune website. We’ll update this page as soon as it’s out.

INSPIRATION
Best events in Rome in November

Participating museums

  • Capitoline Museums
  • Centrale Montemartini
  • Mercati di Traiano – Museo dei Fori Imperiali
  • Museo dell’Ara Pacis
  • Museo di Roma at Palazzo Braschi
  • Museo Napoleonico
  • Museo di Roma in Trastevere
  • Museo Pietro Canonica
  • Musei di Villa Torlonia (Casina delle Civette, Casino Nobile, Serra Moresca)
  • Museo Carlo Bilotti
  • Museo di Scultura Antica Giovanni Barracco
  • Museo Civico di Zoologia
  • Museo della Repubblica Romana e della Memoria Garibaldina
  • Galleria d’Arte Moderna
  • Museo di Casal de’ Pazzi
  • Parco Archeologico del Celio – Museo della Forma Urbis
  • Villa di Massenzio

Other venues may join the programme once it’s announced.

Musei in Musica 2026: FAQ

When is Musei in Musica 2026?

Saturday 21 November 2026, from 8pm to 2am, with last entry at 1am.

How much does it cost?

Admission is €1 per museum, and the ticket includes the performances, the permanent collections and the temporary exhibitions.

Do all the concerts take place on the same night?

Yes. All performances in every participating museum take place on the evening of 21 November, so you can move from one museum to another during the night.

Where can I find the programme?

The programme will be published in November on the Musei in Comune website. This page will be updated with the highlights as soon as it’s available.

Discover the best current exhibitions in Rome

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The Rome Halloween Guide

The best Halloween parties and events in Rome in 2026

Witches, ghosts, spiders, and cobwebs; it must be Halloween time! Here Romeing shares with you some of the best creepily cool parties which are taking place on October 31 in Rome. It’s time to get freaky!

Fun fact: While Halloween may not be as rooted in Italian traditions as it is in the United States or some other countries, it’s a holiday that’s been steadily gaining popularity in recent years. Italians are slowly embracing the spooky spirit and creating a buzz around Halloween like never before.

Get ready to experience an unforgettable Halloween in Rome!

Culto at Macro

culto_large

Macro – Via Nizza, 138
From 10 PM
Tickets: €40 on cultoexperience.it

Forget the usual Halloween club night: this year, Rome is getting a darker, more artistic kind of party. On October 31, CULTO transforms MACRO into an immersive playground of electronic beats, hypnotic light installations and unexpected performances. Explore Hyperstudio’s striking visual works, catch four cult horror films playing on loop inside the Red Cube, and encounter painted bodies and living statues throughout the museum. With a total-black dress code and exclusive masks, the night invites everyone to step into a mysterious new identity. Expect art, music and a little Halloween weirdness, all under one roof.


AMOR at Balagan

balagan halloween

Balagan – Via Aldo Palazzeschi,15
From 6PM

Tickets: from €16 on DICE

The club that kept people dancing all year hosts AMOR for its last open-air event of the season. The main stage belongs to Francis Mercier, one of the most talked-about DJs right now, who has played shows all over the world, followed by Sander Costanzi. In the club room, Romano Alfieri B2B Luca Bree, Ludo Erre and Erica Menei will keep the crowd moving all night, while Griselli and Capponi take over the decks in the living room. Three stages and ten hours of music.


Hell’Oween at Alcazar

DiscoInferno_ADV_1080x1080

Alcazar – Via Cardinale Merry del Val, 14
From 11 PM
Tickets: €15 available on XCEED

Get ready for a night of house music, disco and funk at Alcazar Live in the heart of Trastevere. Behind the decks: Les Inferno and Mario Lembo.


Non Aprite quelle finestre, Halloween Party at Palazzo San Lorenzo

palazzo-san-lorenzo-halloween-party

Palazzo San Lorenzo –  Piazza dei Sanniti, 9a
From 10.30pm

Tickets: from €10 on DICE

The name nods to a horror classic, and the night follows suit. On Saturday, October 31, 2026, ‘na Coccola brings its Halloween party to Palazzo San Lorenzo on Piazza dei Sanniti, with a theme built around horror cinema: dark atmosphere, a touch of mystery and a grim storyline running through the night. Zü and Friends take over the decks from 10:30 p.m. until late. Costumes aren’t required, but with a theme like this it’s worth dressing the part.


Lost in Halloween Party at Serre Barberini

serrebarberini

Serre Barberini
From 8.30pm
Buffet standing dinner for €35, or after dinner entry for €20
info: bookings at +393342532673, Ig lost In events

Inside the greenhouses of Palazzo Barberini, a buffet dinner will be served with a glass of wine included. If you just want to party, come for the after-dinner, with a DJ set and drinks. Don’t forget to RSVP! Dress code: costumes are mandatory.


Halloween Night at Teatro Centrale

halloween-teatro-centrale

Teatro Centrale – Via Celsa, 6
From 11.30pm
Info and reservations: +39 376 203 1885

A few steps from Piazza Venezia, Teatro Centrale turns its historic hall into a Halloween stage for one night. On Saturday, October 31, the club opens at 11:30 p.m. and keeps the party going until late. Costumes aren’t mandatory but are welcome, so it’s a good fit if you want to dress up without the pressure of a strict theme.


Satyrus : The ghosts of Villa Borghese

satyrus-halloween

Saturys – Scalea Bruno Zevi, Villa Borghese
from 11PM

tickets: from €40 on fourvenues

Spend the scariest night of the year in Villa Borghese. From 11 p.m. on Saturday, Satyrus, the outdoor bar at Scalea Bruno Zevi, turns into a dark, spooky venue for one night. A Halloween party under the stars.


Disclosure

Circolo dell’Aeronautica Militare
from 6:30 PM
Tickets: from €10 on XCEED

From 6:30 PM until 3AM you can forget who you are and become someone else with Disclosure. 2 stages of Disco and Tech House will play for 8 hours. Alongside amazing music and beats, scary actors and decorations will make the night even more immersive and spooky. If you’re scared you won’t keep up with the rhythm, some food trucks will be there to make sure you’ll dance all night. Prepare your best outfit and get ready to dance!
Dress code: Costumes are mandatory and prizes will be given to the most originals.


Croccante at Palazzo dei Congressi

Palazzo dei Congressi
From 11PM
Tickets: from €25 available here

Croccante’s last event of the year is one not to miss. With past editions drawing thousands of people, Croccante knows how to throw a party. This time, inside the imposing Palazzo dei Congressi, the theme is Ancient Rome. There’s no dress code, but dressing for the theme will be appreciated!


Halloween Party at The Rome Edition

rome edition halloween

The Rome Edition – Salita di San Nicola da Tolentino 14
From 11.30pm

The Rome EDITION near Piazza Barberini celebrates Halloween with a night organized by VOID and Brunch and Beats. The special guest is Emanuele Inglese, back in Rome for a three-hour DJ set, with Lea Semic on the warm-up. There are three ways to join. You can book dinner at Anima, the hotel restaurant, with a three-course tasting menu from 8:30 p.m., or go for an aperitivo in the garden and Punch Room, also from 8:30 p.m., with a welcome drink and bites. If you only want the party, the after-dinner option starts at 11 p.m. and includes a drink. All three give access to the DJ set. Entry is by reservation only and a mask is required.


Cinecittà World

cinecittà world roma halloween

Via Irina Alberti – Cinecittà World
Tickets: €35 available on https://www.cinecittaworld.it/it/vendita/halloween

On October 31, Cinecittà World stays open all night, from 11 a.m. until 6 a.m. Attractions run until at least 11 p.m., including the horror houses and this year’s new Haunted Theatre, with evening repeats of the shows. The night also hosts three separate events: NEON x 240 KM/H Rome Halloween Takeover, Dead West Halloween Festival, where two DJ stages keep the western village dancing until 4 a.m., and Halloween Requiem Festival with special guest Sick Luke. Each event requires its own ticket, as the standard Halloween Night ticket doesn’t include access to any of them.


Spring attitude Festival with IVREATRONIC

spring-attitude-31-ottobre

Teatro 26, Cinecittà studios, Via Tuscolana 1055
From 9PM to 4AM
Tickets: from €17,50 on DICE

Trade trick-or-treating for a night on the dance floor. This Halloween, Spring Attitude takes over Cinecittà’s Teatro 26 for seven hours of electronic beats, live performances and club energy. With DJ sets by Cosmo, Leonar, Foresta, Santapazienza and Barbarella Le Mariage, plus a live performance by Pan Dan, expect a night of experimental sounds and non-stop dancing in one of Rome’s most iconic cinematic settings. The perfect Halloween plan for music lovers who would rather party than stay home!


Halloween Sucks at Cinema Troisi

CT-HalloweenSucks_Sito-Notizia-1536x993

Cinema Troisi – Via Girolamo Induno 1
From 5PM ‘till morning

Tickets from €8 on their website or onsite

Not in the mood for a party? Cinema Troisi in Trastevere is hosting “Halloween Sucks,” a vampire movie marathon that starts at 5 p.m. on October 31 and runs until dawn. Eight cult films back to back, from Abel Ferrara’s “The Addiction” to Park Chan-wook’s “Thirst” and Murnau’s “Nosferatu,” with Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” in its restored version at 9 p.m. as the highlight of the night. The last screening, Jim Jarmusch’s “Only Lovers Left Alive,” starts at 7:30 a.m.


Halloween at Monk

halloween-al-monk

Monk – Via Giuseppe Mirri, 35
From 9PM

Tickets: €13 on XCEED

Dance all night with DJs Luzy and Corry X, plus a DJ set by Banana Boat. A fortune teller will be there to read your cards, and a makeup artist will make your look even scarier.

The post The Rome Halloween Guide appeared first on Romeing.

Teatro dell’Opera 2026-27 Season

A rich program at the Rome Opera House: discover the magic of opera, ballet, and great music at the historic Costanzi Theatre.

Teatro dell’Opera di Roma has gained an increase in international prestige over the years, hosting performances by world-renowned artists such as Caruso, Gigli, Del Monaco, Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Montserrat Caballé and Raina Kabaivanska, as well as acclaimed orchestra conductors Toscanini, De Sabata, Klemperer, Abbado and the Master Riccardo Muti since 2008. And the 2026-27 season is no exception.

The new season takes its title from a line in Lucia di Lammermoor, “il dolce suono mi colpì” (“the sweet sound struck me”), and spans almost three centuries of music: from Gluck’s 18th century to the 20th century of Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Bartók and Bernstein, by way of Verdi, Donizetti, Puccini, Rossini and Giordano, all the way to a world premiere by Nicola Sani.

The new season at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma offers 12 new productions across opera and dance, with 9 operas, 2 operas in concert, 7 ballets (one performed by students of the Ballet School), 3 special events and 2 tours by the Ballet Company. Performances are split between the Teatro Costanzi, the Teatro Nazionale and the Teatro Valle, which reopens this year.

Rome Opera House 2026-27 Season: Full Program

The dance program ranges from great classics such as Swan Lake, Don Quixote and a new Raymonda to leading names in contemporary choreography, including John Neumeier, Wayne McGregor, Alexander Ekman and Sharon Eyal. Guest stars include Marianela Nuñez, Daniil Simkin, Vadim Muntagirov and, for the first time at the Costanzi, Alina Cojocaru.

Also on the program are special events and concerts spanning music, dance and theatre, from one-night-only performances by Anna Netrebko and Cecilia Bartoli to an Easter concert in Orvieto Cathedral. The season will culminate, as every year, with the Rome Opera summer festival.

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Opera

The new Opera di Roma season opens, as usual, on November 27, this time under the sign of Stravinsky. The Rake’s Progress returns to the Costanzi after 58 years in a new production conducted by Music Director Michele Mariotti and directed by Spanish director Rafael R. Villalobos, making his Rome debut. Further performances run from November 29 to December 5, and the production is broadcast by Rai Cultura.

Umberto Giordano’s Andrea Chénier (January 17 to 26, 2027) returns in Marco Bellocchio’s production, with Daniel Oren on the podium. Sonya Yoncheva, Brian Jagde and Ludovic Tézier lead the cast, alternating with Angela Meade, Gregory Kunde and Ariunbatar Ganbaatar.

A new production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (February 21 to 28) is staged by American choreographer Karole Armitage, making her Costanzi debut, with sets and costumes by Daniela Ciancio. Giacomo Sagripanti conducts. Jessica Pratt sings Lucia, alternating with Gilda Fiume, while Edgardo is sung by Xabier Anduaga and René Barbera.

I-due-Foscari

Verdi’s I due Foscari (March 13 to 21) returns in Pier Luigi Pizzi’s 2001 production, reimagined for the occasion. Riccardo Frizza conducts, with Nicola Alaimo making his role debut as Francesco Foscari alongside Marta Torbidoni and Kang Wang.

Robert Carsen returns to the Costanzi with Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride (April 18 to 27), absent from Rome for 40 years, in the production first seen at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Alessandro De Marchi conducts, with Axelle Fanyo in the title role.

2026/27 season at teatro dell'opera di roma

Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (May 14 to 22) is staged at the Costanzi for the first time in its history, in Barrie Kosky’s production for the Komische Oper Berlin. Juraj Valčuha conducts, with Olesya Golovneva and Dmitry Ulyanov in the leading roles.

A new production of Verdi’s Il trovatore (June 22 to July 1) is directed by Daniele Menghini and conducted by Nicola Luisotti, both making their Rome Opera debuts. The cast includes Marina Rebeka and Vasilisa Berzhanskaya (Leonora), Vittorio Grigolo and Angelo Villari (Manrico), Ekaterina Semenchuk (Azucena) and George Petean (Count di Luna).

After 26 years, Puccini’s La rondine (September 18 to 26) returns in a new production by Andrea Bernard conducted by Francesco Lanzillotta, with Ermonela Jaho and Francesco Meli as Magda and Ruggero.

le-cenerentola-al-teatro-valle-debutto-1817

The opera season closes with Rossini’s La Cenerentola (October 1 to 10), directed by Mario Martone and conducted by Michele Mariotti, in a co-production with the Abu Dhabi Festival. It is staged at the Teatro Valle, where the opera premiered in 1817, in the year the theatre reopens. Angelina is sung by Ekaterine Buachidze, a graduate of the “Fabbrica” Young Artist Program, alongside Dave Monaco, Paolo Bordogna, Pietro Spagnoli and Luca Tittoto. This production is also broadcast by Rai Cultura.


Dance

The Swan Lake at Rome's Opera House

The 2026-27 dance season opens with Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, on stage at the Costanzi over the holidays from December 17 to 31 in Benjamin Pech’s choreography, conducted by Ido Arad. Fumi Kaneko dances Odette/Odile, while Vadim Muntagirov and Paul Marque, Étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet, alternate as Siegfried.

From February 4 to 10, 2027, John Neumeier returns to the Costanzi with Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler, a new production for which he also designs the sets, costumes and lighting. Simon Hewett conducts. Alina Cojocaru, former Principal Dancer of the Royal Ballet, guests in three performances, her first on the Rome stage.

From March 31 to April 4, the triple bill Motus brings together three leading names in contemporary choreography: Nicolas Blanc’s From Afar, set to music by Ezio Bosso, Wayne McGregor’s Borderlands, his first work at the Costanzi, and Alexander Ekman’s Fit.

Don Quixote at Rome's Opera House

Minkus’s Don Quixote (June 4 to 11) returns in Laurent Hilaire’s choreography, conducted by Martin Yates. Marianela Nuñez and Patricio Revé dance Kitri and Basilio on June 4 and 6, with Madeleine Woo and Daniil Simkin on June 8 and 10.

The season closes from October 6 to 13 with a new production of Raymonda, set to Glazunov’s score, choreographed by Jean-Guillaume Bart and featuring students of the Ballet School. Nicolas André conducts. The production is broadcast by Rai Cultura.


Concerts and special events

Teatro Costanzi, Rome Opera House 2026/27 season

Two operas in concert and three special events complete the program.

December 4, 2026, Teatro Costanzi. Anna Netrebko sings Judith in Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, with bass Alexander Köpeczi and the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henrik Nánási. The program also includes Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 and Piano Concerto No. 1, with soloist Misi Boros.

March 3, 2027, Orvieto Cathedral. Michele Mariotti conducts the Orchestra of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, with Emőke Baráth and Sara Mingardo. The concert is broadcast by Rai.

March 18, 2027, Teatro Costanzi. The Orchestra Nazionale Barocca dei Conservatori, conducted by Ignazio Maria Schifani, plays Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 on period instruments, marking the bicentenary of the composer’s death, alongside two unpublished concertos by Ranieri Nanni in their first modern performance.

April 21, 2027, Teatro Costanzi. In dialogue with Iphigénie en Tauride, Sergio Rubini performs Piccinni e Gluck, una corona per due, a theatre piece by Valerio Cappelli about the famous rivalry that divided late 18th-century Paris.

May 27, 2027, Teatro Costanzi. Cecilia Bartoli returns as Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, exactly forty years after first singing the role at the Rome Opera. She is joined by Les Musiciens du Prince-Monaco conducted by Gianluca Capuano and the Rome Opera Chorus.


At the Teatro Nazionale

A second season runs alongside the Costanzi’s at the Teatro Nazionale, with titles focused on new work and the next generation of artists.

November 24 to December 3, 2026. Students of the Ballet School perform Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker in Paul Chalmer’s choreography.

December 18 to 23, 2026. Bernstein’s Peter Pan is staged for the first time in Italy, with Luca Micheletti as both director and performer.

January 23 to 27, 2027. Le Cenerentole features artists from the “Fabbrica” Young Artist Program and the Rome Opera Children’s Chorus, directed by Antonella Lo Bianco. The show is also designed for schools.

April 20 to 24, 2027. The triple bill Echoes brings together Rafael Bonachela, Sharon Eyal and Diego Tortelli, who creates the new piece PINK FLOYD’s DIAMONDS.

May 19 to 26, 2027. World premiere of Nicola Sani’s Code: Unknown, with a libretto by Franco Ripa di Meana, who also directs. Marco Angius conducts. The opera tells the story of a man and a boy separated by a form of neurodivergence, and is accompanied by an accessibility program for autistic people.

May 23, 2027. Marking 35 years since the Capaci and Via D’Amelio massacres, Gery Palazzotto’s È ancora troppo presto revisits some of the darkest chapters in Italian history, directed and narrated by Isabella Ragonese, with music by Rodrigo D’Erasmo.

terme di caracalla opera

Summer Season

In summer 2026, while restoration works were underway at the Baths of Caracalla, the Rome Opera House moved its summer festival to the Circo Massimo. From June 29 to July 31, the program brought together opera, ballet, cinema and symphonic music under the Roman night sky, with highlights including Aida, Roberto Bolle and Friends, Romeo e Giulietta, Carmina Burana and The Gladiator in Concert.

The program and venue for summer 2027 will be announced in the coming months. Click here to discover the 2026 summer festival.


CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

Teatro Costanzi

Piazza Beniamino Gigli

For the full program: operaroma.it

Click here to have a look at our detailed theater guide

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Rome’s Live Music Concerts in December

Best Concerts in Rome in December 2026

With the holiday season in full swing, Rome in December fills up with concerts: international soul voices, Italian pop and songwriting, jazz duos and the gospel choirs of the Roma Gospel Festival, spread across the Auditorium Parco della Musica, the Palazzo dello Sport, Teatro Brancaccio and Atlantico.

Here are the best concerts in Rome in December 2026.

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Joss Stone

The British soul singer brings Merry Christmas, Love to the Sala Santa Cecilia, a holiday show backed by a live symphony orchestra.

December 5

Auditorium Parco della Musica (Viale Pietro de Coubertin, 30)

Tickets: from €74.75

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS


Madame

The Vicenza-born singer-songwriter brings her Disincanto Tour to Atlantico: a minimal, theatrical show built on large white screens and an intimate band setup.

December 5 and 6

Atlantico (Viale dell’Oceano Atlantico, 271/d)

Tickets: €49

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS


Lucio Corsi

Runner-up at Sanremo 2025 and fifth at Eurovision with “Volevo essere un duro”, the Tuscan songwriter plays his first arena tour with a full band, brass, percussion and choirs.

December 5

Palazzo dello Sport (Piazzale dello Sport, 1)

Tickets: from €39

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS


Macy Gray

The voice of “I Try” returns to Italy after three years with The Trouble With The Truth Tour, an evening of raspy neo soul in the Sala Sinopoli.

December 6

Auditorium Parco della Musica (Viale Pietro de Coubertin, 30)

Tickets: from €51.75

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS


Tosca

The Roman singer and actress, winner of Sanremo 1996 with Ron, mixes popular song, world music and storytelling in one of the Auditorium’s most elegant pre-Christmas evenings.

December 7

Auditorium Parco della Musica (Viale Pietro de Coubertin, 30)

Tickets: from €37.50

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS


Arisa

Arisa brings her theater tour to the Brancaccio with songs from her new album Foto Mosse and her best-known hits.

December 7

Teatro Brancaccio (Via Merulana, 244)

Tickets: SOLD OUT

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS


Paolo Fresu: Christmas Songs

The Sardinian trumpeter reworks Christmas standards in a warm jazz key, one of the highlights of the Auditorium’s holiday program.

December 12

Auditorium Parco della Musica (Viale Pietro de Coubertin, 30)

Tickets: from €30

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS


Mario Biondi

The Sicilian crooner celebrates twenty years of “This Is What You Are” and presents his new album Two Entities, with new arrangements designed for the theater.

December 14

Teatro Brancaccio (Via Merulana, 244)

Tickets: from €49

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS


Il Volo

Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble return to Italian arenas with a show devoted to the Italian musical tradition, a natural fit for the weeks before Christmas.

December 17

Palazzo dello Sport (Piazzale dello Sport, 1)

Tickets: from €49

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS


Noemi

The Roman singer plays a home-town show in the Sala Santa Cecilia, revisiting the hits of a career that took off with X Factor and continued through several Sanremo appearances.

December 22

Auditorium Parco della Musica (Viale Pietro de Coubertin, 30)

Tickets: from €39

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS


Enrico Rava and Stefano Bollani Duo

Two leading names in Italian jazz, trumpeter Enrico Rava and pianist Stefano Bollani, reunite in the duo that recorded The Third Man for ECM.

December 23

Auditorium Parco della Musica (Viale Pietro de Coubertin, 30)

Tickets: from €35

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS


Harlem Gospel Choir: Roma Gospel Festival

America’s best-known gospel choir, performing since 1986 and raising funds for charity, brings its traditional Christmas Day show to the Roma Gospel Festival.

December 25

Auditorium Parco della Musica (Viale Pietro de Coubertin, 30)

Tickets: from €28

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

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Max Gazzè

Five nights in the Sala Petrassi with L’ornamento delle cose secondarie: In Teatro, built around his new album, with a setlist that changes from one night to the next.

December 26-30

Auditorium Parco della Musica (Viale Pietro de Coubertin, 30)

Tickets: from €48

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS


Fabio Concato

The Milanese songwriter and his band take the Sala Santa Cecilia through classics like “Domenica bestiale” and “Fiore di maggio”, plus some lesser-known gems.

December 27

Auditorium Parco della Musica (Viale Pietro de Coubertin, 30)

Tickets: from €39

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS


Vincent Tharpe and Kenosis: Roma Gospel Festival

The Memphis praise group closes the festival on New Year’s Eve with high-energy contemporary gospel, a joyful way to see in 2027.

December 31

Auditorium Parco della Musica (Viale Pietro de Coubertin, 30)

Tickets: from €40

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS


Read more:

The post Rome’s Live Music Concerts in December appeared first on Romeing.

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Discover the best live music and concerts in Rome this December, from major shows and festivals to intimate gigs and holiday performances.

Where to Buy Perfume in Rome: A Guide to the City’s Best Perfumeries

Rome’s best perfume shops, from historic houses to niche labels

Looking for a souvenir of Rome that isn’t a Colosseum magnet or a sexy priest calendar? Smell is one of our most evocative senses, capable of transporting us back to a particular time and place. A unique perfume can capture the spirit of Italy’s capital in a way few other souvenirs can, and give you a scent that takes you straight back to Rome.

Dotted around the city, you’ll find perfumeries offering everything from centuries-old Italian fragrance traditions to contemporary Roman scents and emerging brands you may not have heard of. Whether you want something quintessentially Roman or fancy discovering your next signature scent, there’s plenty to explore.

Campomarzio70 

Interior of Campomarzio70 niche perfumery on Via di Campo Marzio in Rome

Enter Campomarzio70 and the first thing you’ll notice is its eclectic style. It’s a multi-brand artistic and niche perfumery, so you’ll find fragrances from a variety of brands under one roof. Now in its fourth generation, the family-run business gives each store its own character, with the interiors designed to reflect the feeling of the place. In the Campo Marzio shop, Fornasetti pieces add to the art and design-led atmosphere.

Here, discovering perfume is treated more like discovering art: the company describes fragrance in terms of emotion, memory and encounter. Alongside its selection of unique perfumes, you’ll find design objects and other products. 

It’s a good choice if you’re less interested in finding a particular perfume and more interested in seeing what you might uncover.

Address: Via di Campo Marzio, 70 (Centro Storico)
Hours: Mon-Sat 10am-8pm, Sun 11am-7.30pm
Price: From €100
Tax-free: Yes (min. spend €70.01, bring your passport)
Shipping: Worldwide, excluding Russia and parts of Australia and South America, via shop.campomarzio70.it


Bertozzini dal 1913 Profumeria Artistica Roma

Fragrance shelves inside Bertozzini dal 1913 artistic perfumery on Via Cola di Rienzo, Prati

Founded in 1913 and now in its third generation, Bertozzini dal 1913 Profumeria Artistica Roma began shifting away from traditional commercial perfumery around 24 years ago, moving towards more specialised and artistic fragrances. The shop now stocks more than 55 brands, around 60% of which are Italian, and prides itself on discovering new names early.

The staff take a personal approach to recommendations, considering not just what fragrances you already like but how and where you plan to wear them. A daytime fragrance might call for something different from an evening scent, while the climate you live in and how much time you spend indoors or outdoors can also influence their suggestions. With fragrances starting from around €20, it’s also a relatively accessible introduction to the world of artistic perfumery.

Address: Via Cola di Rienzo, 192 (Prati)
Hours: Mon-Fri 10.30am-7.30pm, Sat 10.30am-8pm, Sun 3pm-8pm
Price: From €20 for 10ml
Tax-free: Yes (min. spend €70.01, bring your passport)
Shipping: Worldwide via bertozzinidal1913.it


Essenzialmente Laura 

essenzialmente laura

If you’re looking for Rome in a bottle, look no further. Perfumer Laura Bosetti Tonatto has been creating perfumes since 1986, combining fragrance with art, culture, science and history. Her collection now includes more than 70 fragrances, ranging from citrus and floral to amber-oriental and leathery and more.

Her connection between scent and place is particularly strong in her Rome-inspired collections. MVSEI VATICANI Essential takes its inspiration from different areas of the Vatican Museums, including the Gallery of Maps, the Vatican Gardens and the Ethnological section of the museum. There’s also Incenso delle Chiese di Roma, a fragrance inspired by the incense of Rome’s churches, while Mizar, one of the collection’s best-sellers, evokes an evening stroll through Rome.

For an especially Roman souvenir, look out for the 40th-anniversary gift set, which contains eight 10ml fragrances inspired by some of Tonatto’s favourite places in Rome.

Addresses: Via dei Coronari, 57 (Navona) · Via di Campo Marzio, 35 (Centro Storico) · Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore, 28 (Esquilino)
Hours: Daily 11am-7pm
Price: From €75 for 50ml
Tax-free: No
Shipping: Worldwide via essenzialmentelaura.it


Profumum Roma

Laboratory-style fragrance display at the back of a Profumum Roma store

Since 1996, Profumum Roma has been creating fragrances using a balance of natural and derivative raw materials. Its best-seller, Acqua di Sale, combines seaweed, myrtle and cedarwood – conjuring the feeling of standing by the sea. 

The laboratory-like display at the back of the store is a beautiful nod to the brand’s approach to fragrance-making. The brand has around 40 perfumes in its collection, each inspired by a place, memory or raw material. It’s a good stop if you want to discover one of the city’s own contemporary fragrance houses.

Addresses: Via della Colonna Antonina, 27 (Via del Corso) · Via di Ripetta, 248 (Centro Storico) · Piazza Mazzini, 4 (Prati)
Hours: Daily 10am-7pm
Price: From €70 for 18ml
Tax-free: Yes (min. spend €70.01, bring your passport)
Shipping: Worldwide via profumum.com


Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella

officina profumo roma

When it comes to understanding the heritage of Italian perfumery, few places in Rome tell the story better than Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella. Its story began in 1221, when Dominican friars arrived in Florence and began cultivating herbs and plants for their medicinal preparations. The original pharmacy opened to the public in 1612, making it one of the world’s oldest pharmacies, and the Roman shop continues to pay homage to those apothecary roots.

Look out for the Acqua di S.M. Novella, a fragrance commissioned for Caterina de’ Medici in 1533. Even the packaging feels like a piece of history: its book-like boxes and ornate labels echo the brand’s centuries-old apothecary heritage, with many of the label designs still used today dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. If you want to dig deeper, multilingual pamphlets in the shop offer more insight into the brand’s history.

Addresses: Corso del Rinascimento, 47 (Navona) · Via del Babuino, 106 (Spagna) · Via delle Carrozze, 87 (Centro Storico)
Hours: Daily 10am-7.30pm
Price: €165 for 50ml
Tax-free: Yes (min. spend €70.01, bring your passport)
Shipping: Online via smnovella.com


Olfattorio Bar à Parfums

Red "Bar à Parfums" LED sign above fragrance displays at Olfattorio on Via Vittoria, Rome

A red LED sign reading “Bar à Parfums” adorns the back wall of this perfumery, making its purpose clear from the moment you walk in. Olfattorio Bar à Parfums stocks fragrances from a variety of brands and price points, with free consultations available if you need help finding something that suits you. The staff might start with a brand you already like, a particular flower or note, a fragrance family or even a popular or viral fragrance, before introducing you to scents that match your preferences.

A consultation lasts around 30 minutes and is completely free, making it an easy way to explore new fragrances if you’re not sure where to start. It’s particularly useful if you’re overwhelmed by the choice or want to move beyond the perfumes you already know.

Addresses: Via Vittoria, 65 (Centro Storico) · Via del Babuino, 162 (Spagna)
Hours: Daily 10.30am-7.30pm
Price: From €55 for 30ml
Tax-free: Yes (min. spend €70.01, bring your passport)
Shipping: Italy only, with same-day delivery in Rome, via olfattorio.it

If you’re looking to take a bit of Rome home with you, it may just be a spritz away.

The post Where to Buy Perfume in Rome: A Guide to the City’s Best Perfumeries appeared first on Romeing.

Essenzialmente Laura perfume bottles by Laura Bosetti Tonatto in her Rome shop

Apothecary-style interior of Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella in Rome

Rome Art Week 2026

The eleventh edition of Rome’s contemporary art week kicks off on October 19th

The Eternal City is hosting the eleventh edition of “RAW – Rome Art Week”, an initiative dedicated entirely to contemporary art, with over 450 events, 676 artists and 71 curators, as well as many exhibitions and open studios.

Rome Art Week is an annual event spread across the city. Its aim is to give art lovers, collectors and scholars an overview of the contemporary art scene in the capital, through hundreds of events in exhibition spaces, artists’ open studios and free cultural projects created specifically for the week, while building a network between venues, artists and curators.

The week opens on Monday 19 October, from 6 pm to 9 pm, at Auditorium Albergotti (Via Francesco Albergotti) with 85 secondi, a collective performance project curated by Roberta Melasecca.

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RAW – Rome Art Week also organises guided tours throughout the week, divided by area or theme. They take place on foot, in small groups, with visits to exhibition spaces and artists’ studios. Don’t miss the walks through the neighbourhoods of Rome, exploring galleries, associations and museums. The tours are free and can be booked on the official website.

A varied and well-established programme, RAW aims to place Rome at the centre of today’s art scene, alongside other major European capitals. Events take place both in the city centre and in the outer neighbourhoods, involving as many local realities as possible. Galleries, foundations, museums, cultural institutions and associations, academies, Italian and foreign cultural institutes and independent spaces open their doors with exhibitions, talks, meetings, performances and special openings.

Artists open their studios to welcome visitors, collectors and professionals into their workspaces and offer new insight into their work. Curators present their research through exhibitions and cultural events in spaces across the city. Artists’ collectives, encouraged by the organisers, help new contemporary art movements emerge.

To guide the public through the many proposals, critics, curators, intellectuals and artists active in Rome offer their own selection of participants and events.

Most events are free, though some require booking and a few are by invitation only. For the full calendar, visit romeartweek.com/en/events.

The post Rome Art Week 2026 appeared first on Romeing.

The 2026 Roma Jazz Festival

Roma Jazz Festival comes back for its 50th edition.

From November 1 to 24, the Roma Jazz Festival returns for its 50th edition, across Auditorium Parco della Musica “Ennio Morricone,” Casa del Jazz, and Alcazar, bringing together some of the world’s most exciting artists, from jazz legends to fearless new innovators. Dedicated to Miles Davis for the centenary from his birth, the festival proves once again how jazz is a language in continuous evolution.

As artistic director Mario Ciampà puts it: “the history of the festival is, in part, the history of jazz itself”

Roma Jazz Festival is one of the most important European festivals that, for half a century, has brought not only the historic great names of the international scene to Rome but also, with tireless curiosity and sensitivity, those representatives of the new generations who continue to innovate a genre of music that is by its nature boundless.

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Paolo Fresu 2024@Tommaso Le Pera-12
Paolo Fresu

Kind of Lives

The festival opens with Paolo Fresu who inaugurates the 50th edition with Kind of Lives, the latest recording project from the play Kind of Miles, written and interpreted by the artist himself. On stage, on Fresu’s side, he will be accompanied by two ensembles, one paying homage to Davis and the other one representing the revolutionary musical evolution.

Yellowjackets will have their comeback on November 4, but this time, they will be hosting Kurt Elling, defined by the Guardian as “a sort of Frank Sinatra with superpowers”. An unmissable meeting between the best jazz singer in the world and one of the most iconic bands will take place at The Roma jazz festival for its 50th anniversary.

A mix of energies

On the 5th of November, more iconic artists will take over the stage: Steve Coleman and his Five elements are ready to make their audience dance. The American saxophonist, known for mixing jazz with hip-hop, creates a funky rhythm that, together with the Five elements, will be an explosion of energy and groove.

On 6 November, Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Rio de Janeiro mandolin virtuoso Hamilton de Holanda share the stage at the festival for the first time with Collab, their joint project. The two masters of Latin jazz bring intricate melodies, rhythmic complexity and fiery improvised exchanges. Another leading name on the Italian scene, Chiara Civello (23 November) presents her upcoming album, born from her collaboration with producer Clap! Clap!.

Outside Rome, two concerts mark John Coltrane’s centenary with A Love Supreme: the Rieti Jazz Orchestra at the Chiesa di San Domenico in Rieti (15 November) and the Priverno Jazz Orchestra at the Abbazia di Fossanova (22 November).

The 50th edition closes on 24 November with 100 Miles for Miles Davis.

On the 6th of November, the initiative will put together the Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba with the Brazilian mandolinist Hamilton de Holanda. The two masters of latin jazz will be brought together to create an intense musical dialogue characterized by intricate melodies and a complex rhythm.

Steve Coleman-Photo Dimitri Louis-_DGY5934
Steve Coleman

Italian sounds

During the festival, the Italian presence will also be tangible through many different artists. From two trios of Domenico Rizzuto (Nov 8) and Eleonora Strino (Nov 13),to Rosa Brunello with her latest album We Are Surging Waters and Enzo Favata (Nov 16) with his Atlantico, an iconic project blending jazz, South American sounds and poetry.

Another protagonist of the itialian scenery is Chiara Civello (Nov 23) who will present her new project with Clap! Clap!. The collaboration will be a fusion of jazz and electronic music, art-pop and clubbing, anticipated by the single Me and the Trees.

Homages to the Bigs of Jazz

On November 17, the festival pays tribute to Miles Davis with New Sketches of Spain, a performance combining jazz and flamenco while revisiting Davis’s celebrated 1960 album Sketches of Spain. The project brings together Franco-Swiss trumpeter Erik Truffaz and flamenco saxophonist and singer Antonio Lizana. The following day, American drummer Gregory Hutchinson takes the stage to revisit Davis’s repertoire, drawing inspiration from the legendary drummers who accompanied the trumpeter throughout his career.

On November 19th, the spotlight turns to another jazz legend, Sonny Rollins, through the tribute by the CDO–Casa del jazz Orchestra, conducted by Mario Corvini and featuring Javer Gìrotto. Rollins, who passed away at the age of 95, remains a memorable presence in the festival’s history following his celebrated 2009 performance in Rome.

Outside of Rome, two meetings will pay homage to the centenary of John Coltrane at Abbazia di Fossanova and of the Rieti Jazz Orchestra at Chiesa di San Domenico in Rieti.

RJF50_Locandina

A Grand Finale

The 50th edition of the Roma Jazz festival will conclude on November 24 with 100 Miles for Miles Davis, a major tribute to the legendary musician who transformed the history of jazz. The project is led by keyboardist, producer and composer Jason Miles, whose career includes collaborations with artists such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan and Diana Ross. The closing performance promises to celebrate the enduring influence of one of the most innovative figures in twentieth-century music.

50 years of Jazz

Produced by IMF Foundation in collaboration with Fondazione Musica per Roma, and supported by Regione Lazio and the Ministry of Culture, the Roma Jazz Festival continues to celebrate the richness and versatility of jazz music. Its 50th edition offers audiences the opportunity to discover different sounds, explore new musical perspectives and experience the genre’s enduring ability to evolve while remaining deeply connected to its roots.

INSPIRATION
Rome’s Live Music Concerts In November


2026 ROMA JAZZ FESTIVAL PROGRAM

1 November
Paolo Fresu, Kind of Lives
Auditorium Parco della Musica, Sala Sinopoli, 18:00

4 November
Kurt Elling & Yellowjackets, Celebrate Weather Report
Auditorium Parco della Musica, Sala Petrassi, 20:00

5 November
Steve Coleman and Five Elements
Auditorium Parco della Musica, Sala Petrassi, 20:00

6 November
Hamilton de Holanda & Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Collab
Auditorium Parco della Musica, Sala Petrassi, 20:00

7 November
EIC Eden Inverted Collective by Zoe Pia, Atlantidei
Casa del Jazz, 19:30

8 November
Domenico Rizzuto Trio, Disastri Quotidiani
Casa del Jazz, 18:00

13 November
Eleonora Strino Trio
Casa del Jazz, 19:30

14 November
Nexus Quartet, Appunti di Viaggio
Casa del Jazz, 19:30

15 November
Rieti Jazz Orchestra, Focus Coltrane
Chiesa di San Domenico, Rieti, 18:00

16 November
Enzo Favata, Atlantico Reunion
Auditorium Parco della Musica, Sala Petrassi, 20:00

17 November
Erik Truffaz & Antonio Lizana, New Sketches of Spain
Auditorium Parco della Musica, Sala Petrassi, 20:00

18 November
Gregory Hutchinson, Kind of Now: The Pulse of Miles Davis
Auditorium Parco della Musica, Sala Petrassi, 20:00

19 November
CDJO Casa del Jazz Orchestra conducted by Mario Corvini, with Javier Girotto, Tenor Madness
Auditorium Parco della Musica, Sala Petrassi, 20:00

20 November
Omasta
Alcazar, 21:00

21 November
Jeremy Pelt Quintet
Auditorium Parco della Musica, Teatro Studio Borgna, 20:00

22 November
Fiabe Jazz, Musicanti di Brema Swing Band
Auditorium Parco della Musica, Teatro Studio Borgna, 11:00

Rosa Brunello, We Are Surging Waters
Auditorium Parco della Musica, Teatro Studio Borgna, 18:00

Priverno Jazz Orchestra, Focus Coltrane
Abbazia di Fossanova, Priverno (LT), 18:00

23 November
Chiara Civello & Clap! Clap!, CCCC
Auditorium Parco della Musica, Teatro Studio Borgna, 20:00

24 November
Jason Miles, 100 Miles for Miles Davis
Auditorium Parco della Musica, Sala Petrassi, 20:00

INSPIRATION
Top Jazz Live Music Bars in Rome


Venues

Auditorium Parco della Musica
Viale Pietro de Coubertin

Alcazar
Via Cardinale Merry del Val

Casa del Jazz
Villa Osio, Viale di Porta Ardeatina, 55

romajazzfestival.it

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Rome’s Live Music Concerts in November

Best Concerts in Rome in November 2026

In November, Rome is all about the rich program of the Rome Jazz Festival, but not only that. There’s also plenty of anticipation for Italian and international artists such as Francesco De Gregori, Malika Ayane, Brunori Sas and Francesca Michielin. Check out the list of the best concerts in Rome in November 2026 below.

Paolo Fresu

November 1

Auditorium Parco della Musica (Viale Pietro de Coubertin, 30)

Tickets: €40

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

INSPIRATION
The Roma Jazz Festival programme


Francesco De Gregori

November 1, 3-4, 6-8, 10-11, 13-15

Teatro Sala Umberto (Via della Mercede, 50)

Tickets: from €88

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Malika Ayane

November 3

Auditorium Conciliazione (Via della Conciliazione, 4)

Tickets: from €39

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Steve Coleman (Roma Jazz Festival)

November 5

Auditorium Parco della Musica (Viale Pietro de Coubertin, 30)

Tickets: €35

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

INSPIRATION
Discover the Romaeuropa Festival programme


Le Vibrazioni

November 5

Largo Venue (Via Biordo Michelotti, 2)

Tickets: €40.25

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

INSPIRATION
The best events in November in Rome


Bob Dylan

November 5

Palazzo dello Sport (Piazzale Pier Luigi Nervi, 1)

Tickets: SOLD OUT


Brunori Sas

November 5-7

Auditorium Conciliazione (Via della Conciliazione, 4)

Tickets: from €39

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Hans Zimmer by Ensemble Symphony Orchestra

November 16

Teatro Brancaccio (Via Merulana, 244)

Tickets: from €30

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Steve Hackett

November 17

Teatro Brancaccio (Via Merulana, 244)

Tickets: €46

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Pinguini Tattici Nucleari

November 18

Monk (Via Giuseppe Mirri, 35)

Tickets: €32

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Jason Miles (Roma Jazz Festival)

November 24

Auditorium Parco della Musica (Viale Pietro de Coubertin, 30)

Tickets: €35

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Manifesto Fest

manifesto fest 2026

November 25 – 27 – 28 – 29

Nuovo Teatro Orione, Chiesa Valdese, Monk

Tickets: from €22


Ditonellapiaga

November 27

Atlantico (Viale dell’Oceano Atlantico, 271/d)

Tickets: €29

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Shiva

November 27-29

Palazzo dello Sport (Piazzale Pier Luigi Nervi, 1)

Tickets: €57.50

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Francesca Michielin

November 28

Auditorium Conciliazione (Via della Conciliazione, 4)

Tickets: from €39

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Belle and Sebastian

November 29

Orion (Viale J.F. Kennedy, 52, Ciampino)

Tickets: €40.25

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

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A list of the best music concerts and festivals to check out during the month of November in Rome.

Pontormo Exhibition in Rome at the Scuderie del Quirinale

The first major Pontormo retrospective ever held outside Florence

An innovator and one of the most original painters of the 16th century, Jacopo Carucci, known as Pontormo, is the subject of a major exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome, open until 7 February 2027. It is the first large monographic show on the artist ever held outside Florence, and the first time since 1956 that so many of his masterpieces have been brought together in one place.

The exhibition is curated by Cristina Acidini, with a scientific committee of Elena Capretti, Philippe Costamagna, Bruce Edelstein and Carlo Falciani, and organised by Ales-Scuderie del Quirinale in partnership with the Uffizi Galleries.

What to see at the Pontormo exhibition

The show follows Pontormo’s life in chronological order, from his early work in republican Florence to the great commissions for the Medici and the Church, with sections devoted to his drawings, his portraits and his writings. Across 10 sections it brings together over 130 works, 84 of them by Pontormo: paintings, detached frescoes and a large selection of drawings.

Loans come from the Uffizi, the Galleria Borghese, the Louvre, the National Gallery and the British Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, alongside churches across Tuscany. Highlights include the Supper at Emmaus, often seen as a forerunner of Caravaggio, and two paintings based on cartoons by Michelangelo, the Noli me tangere, restored for the occasion, and Venus and Cupid.

Don’t miss the Libro mio, the diary Pontormo kept between 1554 and 1556, filled with notes and small sketches. For centuries it was read as proof of an eccentric, tormented personality; the exhibition catalogue offers a more balanced reading.

Pontormo’s Capponi Altarpiece, the Deposition from Santa Felicita in Florence, on show in Rome
Pontormo (Jacopo da Pontormo), Pala Capponi: Pietà (Trasporto di Cristo), 1525-1528 circa, olio su tavola, 313 × 192 cm
Firenze, chiesa di Santa Felicita,
cappella Capponi
Per gentile concessione
dell’Arcidiocesi di Firenze

The Capponi Altarpiece

One of the most striking loans is the Capponi Altarpiece (1525-1528), the Pietà also known as the Deposition, which has left its chapel in Santa Felicita in Florence together with the four roundels of the Evangelists by Pontormo and Bronzino. The display recalls the architecture of the chapel itself. Figures spiral upwards around the body of Christ in a swirl of pink and pale blue, colours so bright that they soften the drama of a scene that, on the surface, is about death.

Pontormo’s portraits

Pontormo worked for the Medici for most of his life, and the exhibition includes a large group of portraits painted for the family and for other leading figures of the time. Balanced between formal rigour and psychological depth, they feel strikingly modern: these are faces from five centuries ago that still hold your gaze.

The best example is the Halberdier, whose identity is still debated. Behind his confident, almost defiant military pose there is a hint of melancholy, as if the soldier’s composure had been broken for a moment by a thought or a memory. The exhibition also shows Bronzino’s Lady in Red, painted by Pontormo’s most gifted pupil: an elegant woman in shimmering velvet with a small dog in her arms, whose direct gaze makes her both noble and approachable.

Pontormo's Portrait of a Halberdier from the J. Paul Getty Museum
Pontormo, Portrait of a Halberdier, c. 1529-1530, oil on canvas, 95.3 × 73 cm, Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum
Bronzino's Portrait of a Lady in Red holding a small dog
Bronzino, Portrait of a Lady in Red, c. 1532, oil on canvas, 89.8 × 70.5 cm, © Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main

Pontormo treated saints with the same freedom. His Saint Michael the Archangel is no warrior leading the heavenly armies, but a fair-haired young man in a graceful, almost casual pose, resting one leg on the shoulders of the cherub at his feet.

The Visitation and Bill Viola’s The Greeting

The theme of the Visitation opens and closes the exhibition. The first rooms feature Pontormo’s early fresco of the meeting between Mary and Elizabeth (1514-1516), detached from the Chiostrino dei Voti in Florence’s Santissima Annunziata: the work that made his name in the city. The last room is reserved for the Visitation from Carmignano (1528-1532), his most famous painting, on loan from the church of San Michele Arcangelo near Prato. Four women in vivid robes meet in an almost abstract space, in a silent embrace that is one of the most memorable images of the Italian Renaissance.

Pontormo's Visitation from Carmignano, showing Mary and Elizabeth
Pontormo, Visitation, 1528-1532, oil on panel, 202 × 156 cm, Carmignano (Prato), San Michele Arcangelo. Courtesy of the Diocese of Pistoia. Photo: Antonio Quattrone
Bill Viola's The Greeting, a video installation inspired by Pontormo's Visitation
Bill Viola, The Greeting, 1995, video/sound installation. Photo: Kira Perov © Bill Viola. Courtesy Bill Viola Studio

The Visitation also inspired Bill Viola, whose slow-motion video installation The Greeting premiered at the 1995 Venice Biennale. To mark the exhibition, it is on show at Santa Maria Antiqua in the Roman Forum, inside the Colosseum Archaeological Park, from 11 October 2026 to 6 February 2027. Seeing both works makes for a rewarding double visit.

Pontormo’s drawings

Drawing was where Pontormo’s talent showed most clearly, and the exhibition gives it plenty of space. Many of his models came straight from the street: workshop boys sketched from life in natural, ever-changing poses. Five hundred years on, their gestures and expressions still look surprisingly familiar.

Pontormo's drawing of a nude figure raising his arm
Pontormo, Nude Raising His Arm (recto), c. 1525

“The exhibition is a major organisational challenge, a bold curatorial gamble and proof of how institutional synergies can achieve extraordinarily ambitious results. But it is also, and above all, a unique opportunity for the public to come face to face with one of the most seductive and beloved artists of the entire Renaissance.”

Matteo Lafranconi, Director of the Scuderie del Quirinale

Visiting the Pontormo exhibition in Rome

The Scuderie del Quirinale are at Via XXIV Maggio 16, a short walk from the Trevi Fountain. The exhibition is open daily from 10am to 8pm, with last entry at 7pm. Allow at least an hour and a half, and book online to avoid queues, especially at weekends.


Pontormo exhibition in Rome: FAQ

How long is the Pontormo exhibition on in Rome?

From 9 October 2026 to 7 February 2027, at the Scuderie del Quirinale.

What are the opening hours?

Daily from 10am to 8pm, last entry 7pm. On 24 and 31 December it closes at 3pm, and on 25 December and 1 January it opens at 4pm.

How many works are on display?

Over 130, including 84 by Pontormo, across 10 sections.

Where can I see Bill Viola’s The Greeting?

At Santa Maria Antiqua in the Roman Forum, part of the Colosseum Archaeological Park, from 11 October 2026 to 6 February 2027.

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Pontormo (Jacopo da Pontormo), Nudo che alza il braccio (recto), 1525 circa

Blackmarket Hall: Monti’s Bar for Cocktail and Music Lovers

A 1920s-Style Cocktail Bar with Live Music in Monti

Blackmarket Hall, with its romantic lighting, secret rooms, and uncanny resemblance to a roaring-twenties speakeasy, welcomes mixology enthusiasts, foodies, and music lovers alike. From its unassuming exterior, you’d never guess the treasure trove of creativity, cocktails, and culture that lies within. But step through its doors, and you’ll find a bohemian haven.

blackmarket hall rome monti
blackmarket-hall-rome-monti

Held in by the thick velvet curtains, dark wood surfaces, and red walls, Blackmarket Hall is an atmospheric experience where you can let your hair down and enjoy quality refreshments. The creators at Blackmarket have truly achieved how to make a space feel inviting and intimate, from the decor to the menu, and although the hall is just a short walk from the Colosseum, walking in will feel like you’ve stepped into a secret.

blackmarket hall rome monti

With two downstairs garden areas, two sitting rooms, two bars, and outdoor heaters for the winter, Blackmarket Hall is incredibly spacious. The venue serves a wide range of luxuriously curated cocktails alongside international dishes.

They host an extensive aperitivo from 6:00–9:00 PM featuring tastings and gourmet pairings, plus weekly specials, and their kitchen is open every night until midnight. Choose from four tasting boards (cured meats and cheeses, vegetarian, meat or fish), each served with a drink, for €14 to €18.

Their wine list is equally impressive, with a wide selection of Italian wines, including natural wines, as well as Champagne.

Tasting board with cured meats, cheeses and small bites paired with a cocktail at Blackmarket Hall in Monti, Rome

The cocktail menu blends inventive signatures with timeless classics, often built on locally sourced ingredients. Highlights include the Palom-ini, a citrusy riff on the Bellini, and the Salty Cardinal, a playful take on the Cardinale (a Negroni-style mix of gin, Campari, and dry vermouth).

Monticiane, homemade fried pizza bites topped with tomato, served at Blackmarket Hall in Monti, Rome
blackmarket-monti-drink

The Hall doesn’t skimp on food, either. There’s a full menu, from hearty burgers and eclectic small plates to share to pasta and meat and fish mains, with dedicated plant-based sections for vegetarians and vegans. Recent additions include the Monticiane, the kitchen’s homemade take on montanarine (small fried pizzas), named after the neighborhood, a carbonara burger, a tomahawk steak and a long list of tapas.

blackmarket-livemusic
blackmarket-live-music

Live Music plays a central role at Blackmarket Hall. These days the line-up leans toward R&B, soul, pop and black music, with the occasional gypsy jazz and swing night that suits the 1920s setting. Shows start at 9:30 PM, and you’ll find live music at BMH two to three nights a week, with events posted on their Instagram. Whether you’re there to sip a cocktail or soak in the performances, the ambiance alone is worth the visit.

INSPIRATION
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A few tips from the Roman insiders: get there early as seating fills up quickly (though they do accept reservations), explore the iconic neighborhood of Monti with a pre- or post-bar stroll, and chat with the welcoming bartenders if you’re not sure what to order. The staff’s passion and expertise will guide you to your perfect drink. 

blackmarket-roma

Blackmarket Hall is more than just a bar, it’s an experience that captures the essence of Rome’s artistic and eclectic spirit. Whether you’re a cocktail enthusiast, a music lover, or simply someone looking for a unique night out, this hidden gem promises an evening you won’t soon forget. Once you’ve discovered its charm, you’ll understand why it’s one of Rome’s best-kept secrets.

INSPIRATION
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AQVA: the Vatican Apostolic Library starts a new chapter with its latest public exhibition

Beyond catastrophe lies wonder. The Vatican Apostolic Library invites visitors to a five-year long thematic exhibition cycle, beginning with its first installment: AQVA.

For the first time in history, the Vatican Apostolic Library opens its doors to the public with a brand new, five-year long project: Catastrophe and Wonder. A one of a kind exhibition, the Vatican’s centuries old heritage is presented alongside contemporary art that brings together science and the imagination.

In partnership with Fondazione Roma, supported by Intesa Sanpaolo, Catastrophe and Wonder aims to explore the natural threats to the written world. Elements such as fire, water, light, insects and mankind are highlighted, with visitors invited to reflect on how these dangers can, at the same time, be the very things that inspire and heal. If we allow ourselves to look beyond fear, what will we discover? Catastrophe, or wonder? 

Catastrofe e Meraviglia_BAV Ingresso_ph.Olivia Rainaldi_AQVA

The first chapter of this showcase, AQVA, runs from September 25th until May 14th, 2027. Visitors will get to explore the duality of water as both a life-giving force, and one of destruction. The hour-long audio guided tour takes you through threats that have endangered the library’s collection over the centuries, transforming disaster into discovery.

Curated by Don Giacomo Cardinali, Simona De Crescenzo, Francesca Giannetto, and Delio Proverbio, AQVA is more than an exhibition; it is the opening chapter of a major cultural initiative.

Diluvium, Vatican, 2026 ©photo_Melvyn Bonnaffé

The experience begins before you even enter the building. A towering 70-meter wave seems to engulf the library’s 16th-century facade. Created by French artist JR, the installation, titled Diluvium, recreates the biblical flood as imagined by Gustave Doré in an 1866 wood engraving. The work is striking and immediately sets the tone for the rest of the visit.

Entering through JR’s wave, Vatican staff welcomes visitors with a brief presentation on the structure of the visit and everyone is then handed audio guides. Awaiting at the top of the staircase lies a special display of books and images bathed in a deep blue light.

Catastrofe e Meraviglia_BAV Ingresso_ph.Olivia Rainaldi_AQVA (1)

The initial collection commemorates the 60 year anniversary of the Florence flood of 1966, when the waters of the Arno River claimed not only human lives but also destroyed the halls and storage areas of the National Library. The large-scale photograph and reproductions come from a photo album, preserved at the Vatican Library, to illustrate the scale of the disaster.

Catastrofe e Meraviglia_Aqvatilivm animalivm historiae di Ippolito Salviani_ph.Olivia Rainaldi_AQVA

Leaving the blue room behind, visitors enter a space filled with manuscripts, printed books, engravings and artifacts from the Vatican’s centuries-old collections, from Apicius’s De re coquinaria to Giovanni Battista Ramusio’s travel accounts, marine bestiaries and water-themed coins.

In the center are displayed copies of Ippolito Salviani’s 470-year-old treatise Aquatilium Animalium Historiae, which contains dozens of engravings and studies of marine life. Originally published in 1557 under the Vatican Library itself, it is the symbolic heart of the exhibition.

Antique wooden Typotheca type cabinet and Bill Moran’s LetterFish, a fish made of typographic letters, in the AQVA exhibition at the Vatican Library

The next half of the room features a unique combination of fonts and fish, created by American artist Bill Moran. His typography series, titled LetterFish, aims to establish a connection between the past and present. Taking a closer look at the marine creatures, visitors will discover letters, numbers and typographic symbols that make up each of the 14 original prints on display. 

Catastrofe e Meraviglia_BAV Sala 2_ph.Olivia Rainaldi_AQVA

The third voice in the exhibition is chef Fulvio Pierangelini, who brings together water, cuisine and memory. Through six original gastronomic narratives, he explores the cultural value of food, natural resources and raw ingredients, broadening the scope of the exhibition.

The following section allows visitors to catch a glimpse of the restoration process from the official Laboratory of the Vatican Apostolic Library. While natural disasters such as flooding can cause irreversible damage to ancient manuscripts and books, water is also used as an essential tool for the preservation of parchment.

Catastrofe e Meraviglia_JR Sala Barberini_ph.Olivia Rainaldi_AQVA

The journey concludes with Undae, JR’s second art installation featured in the reflective Barberini hall. Another black and white wave is projected onto a screen, but this time it is presented not as a threat, but as a space for contemplation. Water has stayed the same throughout the exhibition, but in the final room, we realize it is only our perspective that has changed.

Visits to AQVA are by reservation only. Regular visits with audio guides available in Italian and English are held on Saturdays, whereas private tours are only available on Fridays. Expect to spend about one hour inside, and don’t forget to take the elevator up to the 4th floor, where you can visit the Sistine Library, a space that is rarely open to the public.

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From New York to Rome: Keith Haring comes to Palazzo Braschi

From the streets of New York to the historic rooms of Palazzo Braschi, Keith Haring’s art has found a new home in Rome. From October 6, 2026, to April 11, 2027, the Museo di Roma at Palazzo Braschi opens its doors to Keith Haring: Art Without Borders, an exhibition dedicated to one of the most recognizable artists of New York’s turbulent 1980s.

Keith Haring's yellow and white aluminium sculpture Untitled (Head Through Belly), 1986, with a pink and blue painting behind it

Curated by Kaoru Yanase, Ilaria Miarelli Mariani and Claudio Zambianchi, the exhibition brings together more than 140 pieces drawn from the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection, the largest collection in the world dedicated to the artist.

Haring’s work was never meant to stay inside a museum. His art was born in the streets, the subway and the hectic landscape of New York. His simple lines, his Barking dog, his Radiant Baby, and his Dancing figures, became iconic figures that could be recognized almost instantly. At the heart of the exhibition is Haring’s deep belief that art is for everyone.

Five prints from Keith Haring's Icons series, including the Radiant Baby and the Barking Dog, at Palazzo Braschi

Inside Haring’s world

From the first room, visitors are immersed into Haring’s unmistakable universe. The exhibition also highlights his connection with Italy, where the artist left his mark during the 1980s.

Before his work entered any museum, Haring was drawing in the New York City subway. His famous Subway Drawings transformed empty advertising panels into temporary canvases, turning everyday journeys into unexpected encounters with art. From there, the exhibition moves through his iconic imagery, including the figures that would become instantly associated with his name.

Two Keith Haring Subway Drawings in white chalk on black paper, shown in a room recreating a New York subway station
Keith Haring's 1988 poster for National Coming Out Day, showing a yellow figure dancing out of an open door
Keith Haring
Poster for National Coming Out Day / Manifesto per la Giornata nazionale del Coming Out
101,4 × 76,2 cm
© Keith Haring Foundation
Courtesy of Nakamura Keith Haring Collection

But behind the playful characters and colorful images lies a much more serious side of Haring. Moving through the rooms, his work becomes intrinsically connected to the political and social issues of the time. LGBTQ+ rights, racism, violence, AIDS and apartheid all become subjects of his visual language. Apparently simple, his art holds messages that are not as easy to comprehend.

“Life is so fragile. It is a very fine line between life and death. I realize I am walking this line”

wrote Haring in 1986.

The words take on particular weight in the exhibition’s final section. Apocalypse and Altarpiece: The Life of Christ, created during the last years of his life, reveal a darker and more introspective dimension of the artist. Altarpiece is displayed inside the chapel at Palazzo Braschi, creating an unexpected dialogue between Haring’s contemporary visual language and the historic space surrounding it.

Keith Haring's Altarpiece: The Life of Christ, a silver triptych displayed in the chapel of Palazzo Braschi

The exhibition ultimately returns to the idea that defined Haring’s career: art is for everyone. His drawings began on subway walls and moved into galleries, schools, hospitals and public spaces. In Rome, they now occupy the rooms of the Museum while still preserving their message.

Haring’s art was born in the streets of 1980s New York, but that does not mean that his language is not still relevant today. More than thirty years after his death, his figures still live for those who are willing to see them.

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Keith Haring Poster for National Coming Out Day / Manifesto per la Giornata nazionale del Coming Out 101,4 × 76,2 cm © Keith Haring Foundation Courtesy of Nakamura Keith Haring Collection

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