Most tourists visiting Rome stay for about three days. In that time they manage to see the Sistine Chapel, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps, the Colosseum, and the Roman Forum. And, just fitting all that into a few days takes discipline and stamina.
But, of course, there are a wealth of other things to see in Rome. “Roma. Non basta una vita,” says an old expression. “Rome. One lifetime isn’t enough.”
At Eternally Cool we largely agree with the maxim. One lifetime really isn’t enough to see all that Rome has to offer. But if you’re one of those people willing to spend part of your life getting to know the Eternal City, one place that you absolutely shouldn’t miss is the Centrale Montemartini Museum on Via Ostiense.
The building in which the Centrale Montemartini Museum is housed was Rome’s first electric power plant. Inaugurated in 1912, it provided electricity to the Eternal City for some 50 years before being decommissioned. Today, its turbines and boilers are still in place and the air in the museum still holds a faint scent of oil and machinery.
All that power-producing machinery became a dramatic backdrop for some of Rome’s most stunning ancient sculptures when the Capitoline Museums closed for renovation in 1997. Museum organizers had the wonderful idea of installing some of the Capitoline collection into the Centrale Montemartini and so some 400 ancient sculptures - many of them not previously on public view - were put on display in what was intended to be a temporary exhibition. However, by the time the Capitoline Museums were restored and reopened, the Centrale Montemartini had been declared a raging success and it was decided to make the exhibition permanent.
Residents and visitors of Rome alike celebrate the dramatic juxtaposition of white marble sculptures against dark twentieth-century machinery. And, though thousands of years separated the crafting of the ancient sculptures and the installation of the electricity-producing turbines and boilers, the visual contrasts created in the Centrale Montemartini seem intended to make us compare the ancient Greek and Roman world view to our own. Whereas the ancients believed their gods controlled all that happened in the universe - from thunder and lightening to good fortune and love - our modern world relies on scientific and technological advancement to keep the world spinning. In particular, we count on electricity, for without it much of modern civilization would quickly disappear. Thus, in the Centrale Montemartini, marble images of the gods that insured the well-being of the ancient world go head-to-head with the electric power that makes our modern world work. It’s their gods versus ours and it’s hard to say who comes out ahead.
What to see in the museum?
The first floor showcases luxury goods from ancient Roman houses and tombs, most dating to the first century BC, as well as an impressive display of Roman portraiture, including the famous Togate Barberini, as well as images of Julius Caesar and Augustus.
The second floor is divided into two parts, one of which showcases sculptures that were displayed in public contexts in ancient Rome, and the other of which exhibits sculptures and mosaics found in private environments such as the luxury villas that belonged to Rome’s most elite citizens.
Centrale Montemartini Museum. Via Ostiense, 106.
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