Rome Termini

Museo D’Arte Contemporanea Roma (Macro). Rome’s primary home of contemporary artwork was formed with the 1999 reconstruction of what used to be the Peroni brewery, which stopped production in 1971. A large expansion by French architect Odile Decq was recently completed, after an international competition to determine the design. The permanent collection explores trend-setting Italian artwork since the 1960s that has represented cutting-edge approaches to contemporary art. More than just an art exhibition, the museum seeks to serve as a meeting place and focal point for the creation of new types of expression. To this end, a second site was added in 2002 in the Mattatoio complex (formerly Rome’s slaughterhouse) in Testaccio, called MACRO Future. It consists of two hangars in the complex that are able to accommodate large-scale, flexible exhibitions that combine elements from diverse artforms, fostering new types of collaboration and development in the arts.

The Parioli branch of Rome’s public contemporary art museum (MACRO Future) is difficult to navigate, but the exhibition galleries are to the right of the main entrance and upstairs. Standout pieces on a recent visit included video artist Nam Jun Paik’s seminal piece Global Village and a creepy installation by Rirkrit Tiravanija. The latter, titled Foster, You’re Dead after a Phillip K. Dick novel of the same name, consists of stacks of puzzles, each printed with an image of a different nuclear explosion. The more pieces a puzzle has, the greater the power of the detonation it depicts. The puzzles are meant for museum patrons to use; you can put them together at a little table nearby. Hours of fun. Hey, and it’s free. (☎06 67 10 70 400; www.macro.roma.museum. MACRO: V. Reggio Emilia 54. From V. Nomentana, northwest of Termini, turn left on V. Reggio Emilia. Open Tu-Su 9am-7pm. Free; exhibitions €1. Free tours with reservations, ☎06 67 10 70 423-26. MACRO Future: P. Orazio Giustiniani 4. B-Piramide. Turn left on V. Galvani off V. Marmorata and walk to the end. Open Tu-Su 4pm-midnight. Free.)

Museo Nazionale Romano Palazzo Massimo Alle Terme. The often overlooked Palazzo Massimo, near the Baths of Diocletian, contains many magnificent Greek and Roman marble statues of Apollo, Dionysus, and Aphrodite, among other ancient gods and heroes. The spacious, well-lit palazzo is designed around an apricot-colored inner courtyard boasting a goldfish pond. The basement floor holds an impressive catalogue of Roman coins, starting in the fourth century BC and ending with Vittorio Emanuele II. Vault doors worthy of Lloyd’s of London guard the approximately 3600 different coins on display. On the ground floor, Roman sculpture and portraiture from 11 BC to the AD first century is on display, as well as Greek sculptures and later Roman copies. A Greek sculpture of the Maiden of Anzio, taken from Nero’s beach bungalow in Anzio, can be found on the first floor. Particularly amusing are the series of gymnast sculptures in the gallery on the right, where the Discobulo (replica) looks primed for the next Olympics. Look for door knockers in the form of various violent beasts. Also keep an eye out for an impressive sarcophagus dating back to the AD third century, depicting a battle with the Germans. The Roman commander who used to be in the sarcophagus is shown advancing in the center of the front panel.

The superb mosaics and wall paintings of the top floor are only accessible with a guide, and you must arrive at the time stated on your ticket. The 45min. tour first takes you to Livia’s summer dining room, painted to resemble a Mediterranean garden and restored in the 1990s. In order to be relocated to the museum, these frescoes had to be adhered to a surface with a natural glue, allowing for them to stay in one piece as the wall behind them was cut. The rest of the tour leads you down a decorated cryptoporticus to some erotic bedrooms of Villa Farnesina, as well as through rooms showcasing mosaics from Imperial Rome. (Largo di Villa Peretti 1. In the left-hand corner of P. dei Cinquecento as you stand with your back to Termini. ☎06 48 14 144; reservations 39 96 77 00; www.archeorm.arti.beniculturali.it. Open daily 9am-7:45pm. Last entrance 7pm. Wheelchair-accessible. No photographs, video cameras, or cell phones allowed. €7, reduced €3.50. Tickets are good for 3 days and also allow entry into the Baths of Diocletian museum, Palazzo Altemps, and Crypta Balbi. Audio guides in English and Italian €4.)

Museo Nazionale Romano Terme Di Diocleziano. Stretching over 15 hectares of prime Roman real-estate between the present-day P. dei Cinquecento and the V. XX Settembre and completed in AD 306, the Baths of Diocletian were once the largest baths in the Western Hemisphere. Now, the baths’ vaulted halls provide a striking display space for various temporary exhibitions. If you happen to visit when the Aula Grande is closed, be sure to look in through the large glass doors at the towering structural remains, which are much more impressive from the interior. The permanent exhibitions are housed in the recently renovated buildings associated with the convent of the Madonna degli Angeli, which was commissioned by Pius IV, in 1561. Most of the museum is dedicated to epigraphy—which is the study of inscriptions set apart by their durability and sacred or public use—and is unique in that the inscriptions are presented in historical context, demonstrating their usefulness in understanding ancient history. Epigraphs housed in the museum speak of the masses of slaves laboring under the Roman patricians, the rise of freemen, and the eventual rise of Christianity (note how fishes, doves, and dates of death start appearing on tombstones during the third century). The rest of the exhibits are concerned with prehistory. Be sure to stroll past the 100 ancient columns that make up the arcade of the Chiostro Michelangiolesco, a peaceful cloister littered with fragments of ancient sculpture, including a central fountain teeming with goldfish. (Museum at opposite end of baths’ entrance courtyard. €7-10, depending on special exhibitions; reduced €3.50. Tickets good for 3 days and also entry into Palazzo Massimo, Palazzo Altemps, and Crypta Balbi. Audio guides in Italian and English €4.)

Museo Nazionale D’Arte Orientale. Italy’s most treasured collection of Oriental art, this museum sports an array of artifacts dating from prehistory up to the 19th century divided into six main sections: evolution of art in the Near East, Islamic art, Nepalese and Tibetan art, Buddhist art from India, and Southeast Asian art. Highlights include Stone Age fertility dolls and psychedelic paintings of Buddha. (V. Merulana 248, in Palazzo Brancaccio on the Esquiline Hill. ☎06 48 74 415; www.museorientale.it. Open Tu-W and F 9am-2pm, Th and Sa-Su 9am-7:30pm. Last entry 30min. before closing. Call ahead for tour reservations ☎06 46 97 48 23. €6, reduced €3. Cash only.)