National Roman Museum

National Roman Museum consists of four different museums buildings – Crypta Balbi, Palazzo Altemps, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme and Terme di Diocleziano. All these buildings house artefacts belonging to pre-historic and early Roman eras and highlight the architectural and artistic brilliance of the region.

The first building, Terme di Diocleziano, is where the seat of the National Roman Museum exists. Here, one can explore Santa Maria degli Angeli Church/ Michelangelo’s Cloister. This cloister was constructed between the mid-16th and early-17th century. Further work continued until the late-17th century. Some more exhibits that one can see here are the displays of altars, epigraphs/ inscriptions and funerary sculptures. 

Crypta Balbi houses the artefacts that were discovered during the escalation of Campus Martius. The collection includes items mostly from medieval times. Artefacts from some other museums in Rome and Italy are also displayed in this building.

The third building, Palazzo Altemps is a 15th-century building that houses ancient Roman and Egyptian sculptures belonging to the renaissance period and a huge collection of books. The building itself is a great example of ancient architecture. It was opened to the public as a museum in the late 20th century.  

The Palazzo Massimo alle Terme which is a great example of 19th-century renaissance revival architecture. The building served as a school till the mid-20th century after which it remained unused, in a dilapidated state. The Government of Italy bought the building and converted it into a museum which now houses Roman and Egyptian artefacts like a mummy, sculptures, jewellery, amber articles, etc.