Small Museums in Rome
 

Trying to add a few smaller, less well-known museums to my next trip. Interested in art, religion, and Italian lifestyles.
Would appreciate recommendations, and directions, if possible. On a low range budget so inexpensive or free ones are welcomed.

Four years ago, we happened upon this little gem that had just opened:
The Museo Nzionale Romano at Palazzo Massimo alle Terme. I don't have the address but it's near the Termini. It has some wonderful antiquities, especially some Augustan age wall paintings, mosaics and statuary. We were most impressed with a room featuring a fresco from Livia's palace.

Vivaldi, since you asked, I will tell you about this museum that's as Italian as pasta. Wait! It's called Museo Nationale della Paste Alimentari! My Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Rome says that the 30 minute complimentary audio tour will bore you to tears. But who knows, it might make you hungry for a big bowl of tagliatelle! You DID ask...

On a more serious note, there is another museum that the same Frommer's guidebook calls one of Rome's smallest and most fascinating. It is the Museo Storico della Liberazione di Roma, located in an apartment building off the Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano. It tells the story of what happened between 1943 and 44 when the Nazis occupied Rome.

Not exactly a 'small museum' but ... have you ever visited the Quirinale (presidential palace)?

It's not on the usual typical tourist trail as it's only occasionally open to the public - but definitely worth checking out. This year it's often been open for concerts on a Sunday, with certain other parts open for guided tours.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

I would also suggest PALAZZO ALTEMPS for the Ludovisi collection of ancient statues and for the awesome architectural structure.

Museo Mario Praz is located on the top floor of a Palazzo on Via Zanardelli near the Piazza Navona. It is free and you get to see what the inside of an apartment in a Palazzo looks like. Mario Praz was an eccentric gentleman that collected a wide variety of art and books. His apartment is just as he left it when he died. Very interesting stuff. The Palazzo Altemps, also near the Piazza Navona, costs 5 Euro and it is a wonderful collection of sculpture and an amazing frescoed loggia. An interesting religious museum, and free, is the Museum of the Souls in Purgatory located in the church of Sacro Cuore del Suffragio, Lungotevere Prati 12. It houses items marked (usually by burns) by the souls in Purgatory to show their loved ones their suffering and to pray for them. Kind of spooky. Another free one is the rooms of St. Francis of Assisi when he visited Rome. They are above the church of San Francesco Ripa in Trastevere. Ask the sacristan to let you in. The Museo Sanitario, located in the Santo Spirito Hospital near the Vatican is also free. Open Monday, Wed. and Fri from 10 to 12, a retired OB/GYN leads you on a short tour of the very interesting "specimens". Not for the faint of heart. Dr. Lenci is quite a character though and speaks several languages. The Museo Criminologico di Roma is housed in one of Rome's old prisons. Exhibits pertaining to the legal system and punishment. Costs around 2 euro.

You might want to check-out "Little-Known Museums In And Around Rome" by Rachel Kaplan.
Regards, Walter

Thanks for all the feedback - lots of good ideas here.

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