Rome’s Castel Sant’Angelo has worn many faces over the centuries — imperial tomb, fortress, papal refuge, prison, and now, one of the city’s most preserved museums. This autumn, its halls open up to three exhibitions that each, in their own way, tell the story of how art, faith, and stories shape our world.
Castel Sant’Angelo 1911–1925: L’alba di un museo
Running from 23 September 2025 to 15 February 2026, L’alba di un museo (“The Dawn of a Museum”) looks back at the birth of the Castel Sant’Angelo Museum itself. The exhibition revisits the early twentieth-century vision of turning this ancient fortress into a cultural home. Visitors can see rare works not displayed for decades, historic documents, and even a reconstructed model from the 1911 exhibition that first imagined Sant’Angelo as a public museum. The show is a quiet meditation on how the castle — once a place of war and power — became a space of art and memory.
Roma e l’invenzione del cinema. Dalle origini al cinema d’autore (1905–1960)
Opening on 15 October 2025 (until 18 January 2026), this exhibition traces the electrifying birth of Italian cinema and its dance with Hollywood. Through archival footage, posters, and early film stills, Roma e l’invenzione del cinema explores how Rome became both muse and maker in the evolution of film. It celebrates the city’s cinematic DNA — from the first experiments in moving images to the golden age of auteur cinema, when Italian directors began creating films that moved audience worldwide. The show is curated in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna and the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, making it a must-see for cinephiles and anyone fascinated by the interplay between history, art, and technology.
Giovanni Paolo II: The Man, the Pope, the Saint — in the Shots of Gianni Giansanti
Running until 30 November 2025, this photographic exhibition honors Pope John Paul II through the lens of the celebrated photographer Gianni Giansanti. Over forty images, Photographer Gianni Giansanti captures the late pontiff’s humanity — his travels, his moments of solitude, his encounters with the world. The exhibition is especially resonant to Castel Sant’Angelo, a site so deeply intertwined with the history of Vatican. Beyond its spiritual dimension, it also offers a reflection on the storytelling power of photography itself — how a still image can preserve emotion and narrative as vividly as words or film.
Together, these exhibitions turn Castel Sant’Angelo into a living conversation between history and modernity — a dialogue of stone, celluloid, and light. If you’re in Rome this October, step inside the castle and let its centuries speak to you anew.
Info & Visiting Details
Castel Sant’Angelo
Lungotevere Castello, 50 – Rome
Open every day from 9am to 7.30pm (last entry at 6.30pm)
Tickets: from €13 (reduced and combo options available)
Easily reached on foot from Piazza Navona or St. Peter’s Basilica — just cross the Ponte Sant’Angelo, the bridge lined with Bernini’s angels. The nearest metro stop is Ottaviano (Line A), about a 15-minute walk away.
