Official Information
Official website: https://museonazionaleromano.beniculturali.it/palazzo-massimo/
Online tickets: https://portale.museiitaliani.it/b2c/buyTicketless/3554d4d2-5596-4cca-8b4e-00e00978fda2
Address: Largo di Villa Peretti 2, 00185 Roma RM, Italy
Google map: View on Google Maps
Opening Hours
Museum-wide hours: Tuesday to Sunday 09:30 to 19:00; last admission at 18:00. Closed on Mondays. These hours apply to Palazzo Massimo unless otherwise indicated in official notices.
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme is one of the four branches of the Museo Nazionale Romano and arguably the best single stop in Rome to understand daily life, art, and luxury in the ancient city. The late nineteenth-century palace near Termini station was originally built as a Jesuit college and later adapted to house major archaeological collections acquired by the Italian state. Inside, the displays are arranged over several floors, each with a distinct focus. The ground and first floors concentrate on sculpture and relief from the Republican and Imperial periods. Visitors encounter famous pieces such as the bronzes of the Hellenistic Boxer at Rest and the Athlete, Roman copies of Greek masterpieces, imperial portrait busts, and funerary reliefs that put faces to names from inscriptions. The way the galleries are organised makes it easier to trace stylistic changes from severe Republican realism to the more idealised portraits of the High Empire.
The upper levels are devoted to wall painting, stucco, and mosaics, many of them carefully detached from villas and urban houses that could not be preserved in situ. Among the highlights are the garden frescoes from the suburban villa of Livia, Augustus’s wife, which wrap an entire room in illusionistic trees, birds, and plants, and the painted cubiculum from the Villa Farnesina with delicate architectural fantasies. These immersive rooms give a powerful sense of colour and atmosphere in Roman domestic interiors, correcting the popular image of bare stone walls. Mosaic floors with marine scenes, athletes, and geometric patterns show similar sophistication in another medium. Smaller rooms present coins, jewellery, and everyday objects, tying monumental art back to economic and social life.
Because Palazzo Massimo is part of a combined ticket with Palazzo Altemps and the Terme di Diocleziano, travellers can use it as the core of a deeper archaeological itinerary spread over a few days. The official website and the national ticket portal explain the different ticket options, combined passes, and any temporary closures or special evening openings. Thanks to relatively clear signage and a logical layout, Palazzo Massimo works well both for first-time visitors who want an overview and for specialists who come to focus on specific rooms or artefacts.