Centrale Montemartini

Overview

Centrale Montemartini is arguably the coolest, most striking, visually jarring museum in all of Rome. It displays pristine, gleaming ancient white marble Roman statues against the gritty, massive rusted black iron machinery of an abandoned 20th-century power plant.

Highlights

• The Engine Room: the staggering masterpiece of the museum. perfect ancient Roman statues of graceful gods and massive fierce athletes stand juxtaposed against the massive, dominating hulking black frames of colossal 1912 diesel engines.
• The Mosaics: The sprawling, beautifully preserved massive ancient Roman floor mosaics mounted on the soaring industrial brick walls.
• The Boiler Room: A vast, cavernous industrial space where magnificent ancient Roman aristocratic sarcophagi sit solidly beneath massive, towering defunct coal boilers.

History

In 1997, the prestigious Capitoline Museums ran out of space due to massive ongoing renovations. They desperately needed a massive temporary home for hundreds of priceless ancient statues. They placed them inside the Capitoline's first massive public electricity plant (opened in 1912, decommissioned in 1963) in the industrial Ostiense neighborhood. The resulting violent visual contrast of "Classical meets Industrial" was so, popular that it was permanently made an official museum.

Visitor Tips

• Location: It is located significantly south of the chaotic historic center in the gritty Ostiense district. Take the Metro B line to Garbatella.
• Photography: It is a, unmatched paradise for photographers drawn to striking visual contrasts and massive heavy shadows.