Rome’s ancient history finds new life in modern spaces on this unique tour of two museums: The Centrale Montemartini where ancient marbles are shown in an electrical power plant & the High Medieval Museum in the 20th-century EUR district.

Leave the regular tourist track far behind you on this tour of two off the beaten track museums that tell the story of Rome over two millennia first for their collections & last but not least for their unusually modern locations. The Centrale Montemartini contains a remarkable collection of ancient Roman marble portraits & statues on display in Rome’s first public power plant. The contrast offers a truly unique viewing experience as you inspect marble portraits of Queen Cleopatra or Emperor Hadrian’s lover Antinoo against massive steam boilers & diesel engines.

You’ll also visit the 20th-century neighbourhood of EUR constructed by Mussolini to serve as his re-invention of ancient imperial spaces. Here you’ll find the museum of High Medieval art containing medieval artefacts, fabrics, jewellery & more. This visit culminates in the reconstructed marbles taken from a luxurious ancient dwelling outside Ostia: marble floors & walls of intersecting mosaic marble pieces reveal the lavish spaces inhabited by the wealthy in the late Roman era. This tour is for anyone interested in discovering some of the most fascinating centuries of Roman history in two less-visited (though no less stunning and important) museums of Rome.