Corso Vittorio Emanuele II · Rome
Walls and ceiling fill with projections while a scale model of the city lights up at your feet.
Watch it on your first day, and every ruin after makes more sense.
Worth it, and when?
Yes, early in a trip and if you treat it as a primer. The booking gives 27 minutes of projections on the walls and ceiling, with a lit model of Rome on the floor, telling about 2,700 years of the city's history. See it before the Colosseum and the Forum, and the ruins arrive with a story already in your head. Do not expect a museum.
A multimedia show in the former Cinema Augustus, on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. A film plays over the walls and ceiling while the floor model lights up to show how Rome grew. Afterwards you can try four interactive models, of the Imperial Forum, the Forum of Augustus, the Mausoleum of Hadrian and St Peter's Basilica. An audio guide comes in nine languages.
It is not a tour of the ancient sites, not a collection of ancient objects and not a long evening show. It is short by design, and visitors who wanted more say so. It cannot replace walking through the Forum or standing inside the Colosseum. It is a map you watch before you go to the real places.
First-time visitors, families who want history made easy to follow, and anyone who likes to understand a city before walking it. It is a poor fit for travellers with a single free hour in Rome who must choose between this and a monument. In that case, choose the monument.
The show in four facts
The ages the film moves through
The booking says the film tells about 2,700 years of history. These are the ages such a story passes through, drawn from encyclopedias, not a list of the film's scenes.
This site does not say which scenes the film shows. The ages below are background for what you will see.
Tradition credits Romulus with founding the city in 753 BC on the Palatine Hill, where the she-wolf was said to have kept him and his brother alive. Excavations show people lived on the hill from the 10th century BC, so the story and the archaeology meet on the same spot.
Wikipedia says the kingdom's early history rests on accounts written centuries later and that no records from the time survive. Tradition credits an Etruscan-born king, Tarquinius Priscus, with the Cloaca Maxima, which drained the marshy ground that became the Forum.
Two consuls, elected for a year, shared power, and the Senate became the centre of government. Rome beat Carthage at Zama in 202 BC and then dominated the Mediterranean. Civil wars broke the Republic; Julius Caesar was killed in 44 BC.
The Senate gave Octavian the name Augustus in 27 BC. Later emperors left the Colosseum, finished in AD 80, and Hadrian's Pantheon, probably dedicated around AD 126. The western empire ended in 476, when its last emperor was deposed.
Wikipedia says the Papal States were established in 754 and that Rome's population fell below 20,000 in the Avignon years. The Forum became pasture, called Campo Vaccino, the cow field. The Pantheon has been a church since 609.
In the 15th century Rome replaced Florence as the centre of artistic influence, and the present St Peter's rose between 1506 and 1626. The Sack of Rome in 1527 cut the High Renaissance short. In the 17th century Bernini and Borromini gave Piazza Navona its Baroque look.
On 20 September 1870 Italian troops breached the walls near Porta Pia. Rome became the capital of Italy in 1871. The street where the show stands was designed as a fast link between the old centre and the new districts across the Tiber, and was named in 1886.
Film or guided tour
From booking to the last model
Five stops between your first click and the pavement outside. Your confirmation carries anything particular to your date.
Open the calendar for open dates. Free cancellation runs to the day before, and you can hold a place now and pay later. No clock time is promised on this page.
The show sits at Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 203, in the former Cinema Augustus. Italian Wikipedia says the corso runs from Piazza del Gesù to Piazza Pasquale Paoli, so it is long: check the number, not just the street.
The booking says the show runs continuously, so you can start at any time in opening hours. The last show starts an hour before closing. Pick up the audio guide in your language.
About half an hour of projections on walls and ceiling, while a large model of the city lights up on the floor to show how Rome grew. The booking gives 27 minutes; the city's tourism site says 30.
Afterwards, the four interactive models are yours to try for as long as you like, then the corso is outside. Plan your next stop before you go in.
What one ticket covers
What one ticket includes, and what it does not.
The Rome behind the projections
Palace ruins on the Palatine Hill and a model of imperial Rome, then the Temple of Saturn in the Forum, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona's fountain and the Republican temples at Largo di Torre Argentina.
More of Rome to book around it
The film comes first, then a guided Colosseum tour, a Pantheon tour and a night ride past the floodlit sites.
A projection on the walls and ceiling of a former cinema, a lit floor model of Rome and four interactive models, with an audio guide in nine languages.
A live guide leads a group through three ancient sites, and the entry tickets come with the booking.
A city highlights ride on an open-top bus after dark, a seated way to see the city's landmarks after dark.
A guided tour of the Pantheon, with the entry ticket included.
Other bookings in Rome
Practical notes
Keep reading
FAQ
Yes, as an early-trip primer. A film of about half an hour and four models give you the shape of Rome's history before you walk the ruins. Skip it if you want a museum of objects or have only an hour in Rome.
The booking gives 27 minutes for the projection; Rome's tourism site says 30 minutes. The interactive models come afterwards and take as long as you like. Several reviewers say they wanted it to run longer.
The booking says the show runs continuously, so you can start at any time in opening hours, and the last show starts an hour before closing. Check your confirmation for anything particular to your date.
Yes, if you can. The film gives the order of Rome's ages, so the Forum, the Palatine and the Colosseum make more sense. It works equally well on a rainy afternoon, because it is indoors.
The booking lists Italian, English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Chinese, Croatian and Japanese. Rome's tourism site lists eight, without Croatian. Choose your language when you enter.
Probably, if they like stories. The booking page gives no minimum age, and a reviewer took an eight-year-old at the start of a stay. The four models are interactive, so there is something to touch afterwards.
Yes. The booking marks it wheelchair accessible and says the projection and the interactive exhibits are accessible to anyone with a disability.
Yes: tickets booked through GetYourGuide can be cancelled for free until a day before, and you may hold a place now and pay later. Your date shows its own terms at checkout.
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 203, in the former Cinema Augustus, in Rome's old centre. The corso is a long street, so look for number 203.
No. This site is an independent guide, not the website of the show, its venue or its operator, and not affiliated with them. Tickets are sold by GetYourGuide, which takes every booking.
The calendar prices every date in the currency you pick, taxes and fees included.