Even if you're not going to a concert, Rome's flagship cultural center is worth a visit.
Designed by starchitect Renzo Piano and inaugurated in 2002, the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone is an audacious work of contemporary architecture featuring three gray pod-like halls set around an open-air amphitheater. Guided tours reveal its inner workings, including the ruins of an ancient Roman villa.
Concert Halls
The three giant pods that give the complex its distinct look house the principal concert halls. The largest is the 2744-seat Sala Santa Cecilia, which takes its name from the world-class Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (santacecilia.it), which is based at the Auditorium and regularly performs here. Decked out in cherry wood, the halls offer superb acoustics and together with a 3000-seat open-air arena (the Cavea) provide stages for classical music, jazz, rock and pop concerts. They also host public lectures, festival events and film screenings.
Museums
Inside, sleek modern halls house three free museums. At the Museo Archeologico, you can browse artifacts unearthed in the ancient Roman villa that was discovered during the Auditorium's construction, as well as a few remnants of the villa itself.
Further archaeological treasures await in the Museo Aristaios, which showcases a valuable collection of ancient Mediterranean ceramics, including some wonderful Attic vases.
For a change of theme, the Museo degli Strumenti Musicali has a collection of more than 500 instruments, including a prized Stradivarius violin from 1690.
