Rome · Centro Storico

Palazzo Altemps

Palazzo Altemps houses Rome's finest collection of ancient sculptures in a 15th-century cardinal's palace that's been beautifully restored.

About Palazzo Altemps

Palazzo Altemps houses Rome's finest collection of ancient sculptures in a 15th-century cardinal's palace that's been beautifully restored. You'll find masterpieces like the Ludovisi Throne (a 5th-century BC Greek relief), the dramatic Galata Suicide sculpture, and the colossal Dionysus statue. The frescoed rooms and painted loggias create an aristocratic atmosphere that makes viewing these ancient works feel intimate rather than clinical.

The visit flows through ornate Renaissance rooms where sculptures are displayed like they're still part of a private collection. The painted ceilings and decorative walls provide gorgeous backdrops for marble gods and emperors. The courtyard loggia is particularly atmospheric, with ancient sarcophagi arranged around the covered walkway. Each room has a different character - some feel like grand salons, others like scholarly studies.

At €10 (€2 for EU students), it's Rome's best sculpture museum and criminally undervisited compared to the Capitoline Museums. Skip the ground floor quickly - the real treasures are upstairs. The Ludovisi collection on the first floor is extraordinary, but most people rush through it. The palace gets almost no crowds, so you can actually contemplate the art without being jostled by tour groups.

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The details

Practical bits

WalkingMinimal walking

The place

Getting there

Address

Piazza di Sant'Apollinare, 46, 00186 Roma RM, Italy

Neighborhood

Centro Storico →

Nearest Metro

Spagna (Line A) - 10 min walkBarberini (Line A) - 10 min walk

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Good to know

Tips, answered

Enter through the main courtyard and head straight upstairs to the Ludovisi collection - most visitors waste time on the less impressive ground floor displays

The painted loggia on the upper floor has the best pieces but gets overlooked because people assume it's just a corridor - spend time here with the Ludovisi Throne

Visit after 2pm when it's nearly empty, and you can sit in the courtyard loggia surrounded by ancient sarcophagi in complete silence

Plan for about 1h 30m.

Palazzo Altemps is in the Centro Storico neighborhood of Rome. The address is Piazza di Sant'Apollinare, 46, 00186 Roma RM, Italy. The area is well-served by metro.

This works well at any time of day, though mornings tend to be quieter. Weekdays are less crowded than weekends.

Closed on Monday. Check the official website for holiday closures and special hours.

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Landmark

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Landmark

Trevi Fountain

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Landmark

Pantheon

Two thousand years old, free to enter, and still the largest unreinforced concrete dome on the planet. The Pantheon is the building that makes engineers and architects stop talking mid-sentence. Walk through the massive bronze doors - originals, by the way - and look up at the coffered dome with its oculus, a 9-metre hole in the ceiling that is the only source of light. When it rains, the water falls straight through and drains through nearly invisible holes in the slightly convex floor. That's Roman engineering from 125 AD, and nobody has improved on it since. The interior is one enormous room, perfectly proportioned: the height to the oculus equals the diameter of the dome (43.3 metres). This was deliberate. The Romans designed it so the space would feel both vast and harmonious, and it works. The light beam that enters through the oculus moves across the interior like a slow spotlight - at noon it's at its most dramatic, hitting the floor in a near-perfect circle. Morning visits between 8:30-9:30 AM catch the beam sweeping across the coffered ceiling, which is arguably even more beautiful. Entry is free but you need a timed reservation since 2023. Book on the official site a few days ahead - it costs nothing, takes 30 seconds, and saves you from the walk-up queue that can reach 45 minutes. The reservation system was controversial but it's actually improved the experience because they now limit the number of people inside at any time. Raphael is buried here, in the third chapel on the left - most people walk right past it. The building started as a temple to all the gods (pan = all, theon = gods), was converted to a church in 609 AD, and has been in continuous use ever since. The piazza outside has the usual overpriced tourist cafes - walk two minutes south to Sant'Eustachio Il Caffe for what many Romans consider the best coffee in the city (€1.10 standing at the bar).

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Museum

Galleria Doria Pamphilj

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Landmark

Piazza Navona

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Landmark

Portico d'Ottavia

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