Visitor numbers up 5 per cent on 2023.

Italy's state museums and archaeological parks welcomed a total of 60,850,091 million visitors in 2024, a new record and an increase of 5 per cent on the previous year.

The revenue from tickets sold amounted to €382 million, a 23 per cent increase on the €313 million generated in 2023 from the sale of 57,730,502 tickets, the culture ministry said in a statement.

"This is the best result ever for state museums and archaeological parks", culture minister Alessandro Giuli stated, noting that it was "even higher than pre-covid levels" when 54.8 million visitors were registered in 2019.

Giuli claimed it was proof of "how well the goverment is working" as well as showing "how Italian culture and beauty are recognised and appreciated in the world".

Top 10 most visited state museums and archaeological parks in Italy in 2024

Leading the visitor boom is the Colosseum archaeological park - comprising the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and Domus Aurea - which attracted almost 15 million visitors in 2024, a significant jump from the 12 million the previous year, generating over €100 million in ticket sales.

In second and third place were the Uffizi Galleries in Florence and the archaeological park in Pompeii, with more than 5 and 4 million admissions each, then the Pantheon which introduced an entry fee two years ago and attracted 4 million visitors in 2024.

In fifth place was the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence with 2 million visitors, followed by Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome with 1.3 million visitors and the Egyptian Museum in Turin with just over 1 million visitors.

Reggio di Caserta was in eighth place with 900,000 visitors, followed by Villa d'Este / Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli, and the Bargello Museum in Florence, each attracting more than 700,000 visitors.

Photo Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome.