Rome's National Roman Museum launches €100M restoration project

The National Roman Museum in Rome has secured €71 million from Italy's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) as part of a €100 million restoration project called Urbs, from the city to the Roman countryside. The project will renovate all four museum sites—Terme di Diocleziano, Palazzo Massimo, Palazzo Altemps, and Crypta Balbi—over the next four years. At Terme di Diocleziano, work includes upgrading systems, seismic checks, and expanding exhibition space to the upper floors of Michelangelo's Cloister and the small cloister of the Certosa, focusing on the history of Latium Vetus and imperial Rome. Palazzo Massimo will cover its internal courtyard to create a new permanent exhibition space featuring artifacts from storage, and will highlight its medagliere (coin collection). At Palazzo Altemps, restoration has begun on the second courtyard, the Jewel room, and the oldest altana in Rome, along with the theater and church. Crypta Balbi, currently 90% inaccessible due to decay, will receive €71 million for restoration, reopening with three sections covering Rome from Constantine to the Middle Ages, the ancient Crypta Balbi quarter, and modern Rome from Ignatius of Loyola to Aldo Moro. The site will become a cultural hub with artisan spaces, dining, study areas, digital production center, student housing, and event spaces. Partial closures will occur, compensated by temporary exhibitions of previously unseen artifacts.