mattsa

This is my favorite museum and I’ve been to quite a few. If you love Bernini you MUST visit this Galleria, the pieces are spectacular and presented beautifully. The collection itself is small relative to many more well known museums, but they have an abundance of remarkable pieces. The Galleria is housed within a former residence of the Borghese family in the middle of Villa Borghese which is a large and beautiful park on the north side of the central area of the city.

My favorite way to visit is to take the metro to the Spanish Steps stop, wander the area around the steps and then head north, walking through the park. It’s a little bit of a hike, but the park itself is really beautiful and and is worth the visit alone.

The Bernini pieces here are probably the most famous, but there is also Canova’s remarkable sculpture of Pauline Bonaparte and wonderful paintings by Titian, Caravaggio, and Rubens. The Galleria is frequently booked completely, so if you want to go during a higher tourist season try to call ahead and reserve a few days in advance to make sure you can get tickets.

Visitors frequently miss the upstairs portion of the gallery – you head out towards the rear of the building and up the stairs to reach it. If you are tired or don’t want to walk through the park there is a Metro station on the East side of the park which is fairly close.

I’ve been to the Galleria more times than I can count and never get sick of it. Do yourself a favor and check it out, particularly if you are fan of any of the artists mentioned above.

I have friends who are from here, it is fairly well known as a nice beach town, and fairly easy to reach via train from Rome or Naples. A pleasant day trip and very worth it. I find the people here very friendly and the atmosphere very pleasant.

This is a strange place indeed. There are a variety of bodies present, mummified by priests. They include small children and people of a variety of ages and there are a lot of them. Pretty remarkable and very weird. It’s high up on the hill, quite a walk from the town center, but doable on foot.

The most strange part about it is that there is a second exhibit, “The Cult of the Dead”, which is something like a haunted house, only about a third of the stuff in it is real people’s bodies. In includes things like 3D holograms of beckoning fingers and glow in the dark skulls mixed with (you guessed it) mummies. It makes for an odd, somewhat unsettling experience, but is worth checking out if you have the time and inclination.