Casina del Salvi opens to the public, offering coffee and free study facilities with a Colosseum view.

Rome has reopened the Casina del Salvi, a 19th-century coffee house in an archaeological park near the Colosseum, with a study room open to the public.

With its view of the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill, the neo-classical Casina del Salvi returns to its original 19th-century purpose, offering visitors refreshments in its cafeteria on the ground floor and outdoor terrace.

In addition, the building has been added to the city's network of free study rooms that are opening up in public libraries, museums and cultural centres.

The building's new study rooms, on the upper floor, are equipped with wi-fi and tables with power points for charging mobile devices.

The study area will be open free of charge seven days a week, from 09.00 to 19.00.

The restored building in the Celio Archaeological Park was inaugurated on Tuesday in the presence of the city's mayor Roberto Gualtieri and culture councillor Massimiliano Smeriglio.

"We are in one of the most beautiful places in the world" - Gualtieri stated - "in the centre of the city and yet it seems like we are in the countryside, in the calm, in the greenery and among the ruins of ancient Rome".

Describing it as the building's "first real inauguration", Smeriglio said: "It may seem absurd but in reality this wonderful place has never taken off since the end of the 19th century. It was originally supposed to be a coffee house but decade after decade it was abandoned."

The archaeological park is also home to the Museo della Forma Urbis which houses the remaining fragments of the Forma Urbis Romae, the giant marble map of ancient Rome engraved between 203 and 211 AD under Emperor Septimius Severus.

Visitors to the museum can walk over a glass floor under which the original marble fragments are displayed over a map of Rome created by Giovanni Battista Nolli in 1748.

Visitors to Rome's new Forma Urbis Museum on the Caelian Hill can walk across a glass floor with fragments of a massive marble map of the city engraved in the early third century by order of Emperor Septimius Severus. pic.twitter.com/3h89t8JeaW— Wanted in Rome (@wantedinrome) January 11, 2024

Located on he north-west area of the Caelian hill, roughly between the Circus Maximus and the Colosseum, the Parco Archeologico del Celio contains the perimeter foundations of the Divo Claudio, or Temple of Claudius, dating to the first century AD.

The enhancement of the park is part an ongoing project called the New Archaeological Walk to create a "large pedestrian ring" linking Rome's ancient sites.

The route reimagines the public spaces and walkways around the Roman Forum, Colosseum, the Baths of Caracalla and the Circus Maximus, incorporating also the Caelian, Palatine and Capitoline hills.

The Casina del Salvi was built in 1835 at the behest of Pope Gregory XVI. It was designed by architect Gaspare Salvi who was inspired by Rome's Casina Valadier on the Pincio.

How to visit

The Parco Archeologico del Celio and Museo della Forma Urbis has entrances on Viale del Parco del Celio 20/22 and Clivo di Scauro 4.

Opening hours

The park is open every day from 07.00 to 17.30 (winter time) and from 07.00 to 20.00 (summer time). Closed on 1 May and 25 December.

The Museo della Forma Urbis is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 to 19.00 (last admission one hour before). Closed on Mondays, 25 December, 1 May.

The Casina del Salvi cafeteria and study hall are open every day 09.00 to 19.00.

Photo Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali