Rome’s Museums & Basilicas

A secret escape path for Catholic holy men in St. Peter’s Basilica. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

To visit all of Rome’s museums and churches you’d need a lifetime and an afterlife. There are so many to choose from. During my one week stay with my friend we were lucky enough to score free admission into almost all the museums we made it into, but there were others we never had the opportunity to check out, like the Galleria Borghese. We didn’t make reservations far enough in advance and with the admission being a mere two euros for the special cultural week events it was booked solid. This was a little disappointing as I did really want to see Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne. This means a return to Rome is necessary.

Flames in Santa Maria of Trastevere. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

We did make it through the doors of several other must-sees like the Musei Capitolini, Santa Maria del Popolo, Vatican Museums, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna and the Central Montemartini. We also saw the Santa Maria of Trastevere, which was one of the more low-key churches and fairly humble. I can’t say that there were any I did not enjoy. My only wish was more time. Like always, I find it difficult to really absorb the material on display. I tend to take the stroll, glance and read more before or after the fact about the pieces and the painters and the builders approach. Having gotten to Rome just before tourist season kick starts we didn’t have o deal with massive amounts of people other than at the Vatican Museums and on the day of Rome’s birthday at the Capitolini. I would suggest to anyone visiting to make the trip over to see some modern art. It is a little jarring at first after seeing all the classical goodness, but a wonderful contrast in Italian art.

Raphael’s famous School of Athens found in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Because photography isn’t allowed in many of the museums I wasn’t able to capture all the exhibits, but here are a few snapshots from around the handful we got to check out. Enjoy.