City museums free to Rome residents

Rome's civic museums, excluding the Ara Pacis, are open free of charge to Rome residents on the first Sunday of every month, beginning on 5 October. The initiative is currently in an experimentation phase but will be repeated on 2 November and 7 December.

The move comes as part of a shake-up of visiting rules for Italian museums and monuments, announced by culture minister Dario Franceschini in June. It also follows the news of free admission to seven lesser-known Rome museums, where visitor numbers since the end of August have increased by 137 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The city plans to organise a programme of performances at these smaller museums over the Christmas period, to help raise their profile with the public.

The announcement of free entry to the seven museums was balanced by increased ticket prices at the city's bigger museums.

For details see Rome's civic museums' website.