Official Information
Official website: https://gabiipraeneste.cultura.gov.it/
Online tickets: https://www.museiitaliani.it/ >> https://portale.museiitaliani.it/b2c/buyTicketless/5b6fae96-e127-4677-9b40-6fe0288587b1
Address: Museo Archeologico Nazionale Prenestino e Santuario della Fortuna Primigenia, Piazza della Cortina, 00036 Palestrina (RM), Italy
Google map: View on Google Maps
Opening Hours
Museum: daily 09:00–19:30, last entry 18:30. Sanctuary terraces: 09:30–16:30 from the last Sunday in October to the last Saturday in March, and 09:30–19:00 from the last Sunday in March to the last Saturday in October, with last entry about 30 minutes before closing. Hours can be updated for special events or maintenance, so always confirm on the official site before visiting.
Palestrina’s sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia is one of the most spectacular surviving religious complexes of Roman Italy, rising in monumental terraces above the modern town. The cult of Fortuna, associated with motherhood and oracles, made ancient Praeneste famous; classical authors describe how lots were drawn from a sacred well to consult the goddess. Today visitors experience the sanctuary through both the vast archaeological silhouette on the hillside and the collections of the National Archaeological Museum housed inside Palazzo Barberini, which occupies part of the ancient structures.
The museum route takes you through frescoed halls and galleries displaying bronze votive objects, inscribed cippi, sculpture, and domestic finds that trace the evolution of Praeneste from an important center in Latium to a prosperous Roman municipium. Its star attraction is the celebrated Nile Mosaic, a large late Hellenistic floor mosaic that evokes Egypt with detailed scenes of fauna, boats, towns, and figures, revealing the cosmopolitan tastes of local elites. Other highlights include finely decorated cistae and mirrors, which illustrate the high craftsmanship active in the area.
Outside, walking the sanctuary terraces you can read the terraced architecture that once framed the ascent to the temple. Ramps, staircases, and platforms reveal how the complex was built into the slope of Monte Ginestro, creating an urban-scale stage set that later influenced Renaissance architects. From the upper levels there are wide views over the Sacco Valley and towards the Alban Hills, giving a sense of how pilgrims once approached this sacred landscape.
The site today is managed together with the Foro of Praeneste and the Archaeological Park of Gabii, and the same ticket can often cover multiple areas. Because the sanctuary’s upper terraces and stairways are archaeological remains, access involves some climbing and uneven surfaces; the museum itself is more easily accessible. Visiting both the museum and sanctuary rewards you with one of the clearest looks at how religion, urbanism, and landscape intertwined in pre-imperial Latium.