There are many museums to see in Rome, Italy and what ones you decide to visit depend on your interests. Some are dedicated to Vatican history, some on Roman history and others on art and literature. Here are a few must-sees:

 Vatican Museums: This series of museums and galleries will take hours, if not days to see it all, so plan accordingly! The Vatican Museums are a collection of different pontifical museums and galleries, such as the Pio-Clementine Museum, which was named after its two founders, popes Clement XIV (1769-1774) and Pius VI (1775-1799). Later, future Popes expanded the collections to include the Chiaromonti Museum, which houses a collection of Roman busts and statues and more than a thousand sculptures, including portraits of Emperors and gods. Pope Gregory XVI founded several museums, including the Etruscan Museum, the Egyptian Museum, and the Lateran Profane Museum. The Vatican Historical Museum was founded in 1973 and houses the Carriage and Automobile Museum.

Museum of Rome: Want to know more about the Eternal City? Check out the Museum of Rome, which was founded in 1930 in a former pasta factory and preserves specimens of Rome’s history, including 142 original drawings, acquired in 1963, a selection of which is on display. There are a variety of exhibitions to see that change regularly, so check the website calendar before you go.

The Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography: This museum opened in Rome 140 years and focus on the study of human past and natural history, including presentations on villages in Rome as well as explorations on Africa, America and Oceania. The Africa section, for example, includes the discovery of the West coast, the exploration of the interior of the continent and the discovery of African art. In America, there are artefacts and archaeological remains of cultures in Mesoamerica and Central America.

MAXXI, the National Museum of 21st Century Arts: Designed by Zaha Hadid, it’s located in Rome’s Flaminio quarter and features MAXXI Architettura, the first national museum of architecture to be established in Italy and MAXXI Arte, a contemporary museum, described as ‘set within unconventional architecture, a point of departure for a new museographic experience that breaks with the past.’ Keats-

Keats-Shelley Memorial House: Poet John Keats spent the last days of his life in this home, located in the Piazza di Spagna and it’s been turned into a museum that honors his works. You’ll see letters, paintings, books and manuscripts from John Keats as well as Percy Bysshe Shelley, Byron, Wordsworth, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Hunt and Oscar Wilde.

Jody’s Travel Inc