Crypta Balbi (Museo Nazionale Romano)

The Crypta Balbi Museum is the only one of its kind. Together with the Palazzo Massimo, Palazzo Altemps and the Bath of Diocleziano, it makes part of the National Roman Museum. Originally a huge courtyard annexed to the theatre which Lucio Cornelio Balbo built for Augustus at the end of the first century A.D., the Crypta Balbi represents a development of Roman society and the urban landscape from antiquity to modern times. Twenty years of excavation and research have revealed a series of transformations and diverse uses of the structure. Above all, these excavations have shed light on our rather obscure knowledge of the passage from Roman to medieval society, the so- called Dark Ages. The museum itself is located between the streets Botteghe Oscure and M. Caetani. Exhibitions are speard across three floors and various other buildings on the site and include artefacts recovered from excavation, such as ceramic objects, tools and even ruins, as well as items from the National Roman Museum proper. Certain objects found at the site of excavations near the theatre have been open to public viewing only for a short time. It is also possible to the visit the cellars where one can see the actual crypts and an ancient granary with medieval restructurings.

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Contact Information

Crypta Balbi (Museo Nazionale Romano)
Via delle Botteghe Oscure, 31
00154 Roma

Tel. +39639967700

http://www.pierreci.it