Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums renew for the year 2016 the now customary night openings; the doors will open at sundown from 6 May to 29 July and from 2 September to 28 October 2016, every Friday from 07.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m. (last entry at 09.30 p.m.).

The Night Openings are, first and foremost, a confirmation of the Vatican Museums’ special attention to the Roman public. The invitation is addressed not solely to the thousands of tourists from all of the world, but principally to those citizens who wish to contemplate the inestimable treasures held in the papal galleries but do not have the chance to do so during the usual opening hours due to family and work commitments.
The night opening of the Pope’s Museums therefore becomes an unmissable opportunity to visit them illuminated by an unusual light and in the comfort of less crowded spaces away from the daytime heat.
The musical programme, entitled La Musica dei Musei, is again confirmed this year. The result of a collaboration between the Vatican Museums, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the Comitato Nazionale Italiano Musica (CIDIM), this fruitful marriage of art and music will offer the public a series of concert initiatives.

Through the many and varied appointments offered, the Vatican Museums seek to present themselves as a universal stage and elective crossroads for every artistic form of the different cultures in the world. The variety of proposals means openness to internationality: from the Argentine Tango to the Russian Choir of Moscow, from Jazz to band music. Musical genres from different worlds as different forms of a single Art.

The great classical music will be represented by the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in the Raphael Hall. With the big bands in the Courtyard of the Pinecone, attention will turn to the rediscovery of popular song, while the Gregoriano Profano Museum will set the stage for young talents from three Italian Conservatories: the Giuseppe Verdi (Turin), the Ottorino Respighi (Latina) and the Fausto Torrefranca (Vibo Valentia).