2022 Natale di Roma

The 2775th birthday of Rome, Thursday 21 April, awaits you with a full calendar of guided tours, educational events, openings, exhibitions, concerts, theater and film screenings. And to admire the beauty of its collections, Rome gives you free admission to the city's museums, including exhibitions and the archaeological area of Circus Maximus and the Mausoleum of Augustus (reservations required at www.mausoleodiaugusto.it).

Here are the scheduled events, all with free participation, except where otherwise indicated.

The Trajan's Market - Museum of the Imperial Fora opens to the public from 2.30 pm with Synesthesia, an interactive and multisensory installation aiming to develop new methodologies to relate the individual to his or her environment, through the use and encounter of practices such as interactive design and emerging health sciences. The work consists of irregular and soft sphere with fluctuating effects of light and sound that invites you to come closer to engage in a sensory conversation with the object and the environment.

On 21 April, opening to the public on 22 April, the Planetarium of Roma Capitale, housed inside the Museum of Roman Civilization, is equipped with new cutting-edge technology and with new shows. The new digital planetarium is also equipped with a complex system of high-contrast projectors, with 4K resolution. It can reconstruct, with extreme realism, the surface of the Earth, Moon, and Mars and allow you to look beyond, in the most distant places of the universe, including galaxies and nebulae.

Through observation and storytelling, we can approach works, monuments, artistic and cultural testimonies less known spread throughout the territory. For this reason, on 21 April a series of appointments guided by museum officials are scheduled:

• extraordinary opening of the Claudio and Felice Aqueducts (10.30 am);
• visits to the Roman ruins in the basement of the Giovanni Barracco Museum recently returned to the public and equipped with an innovative lighting system (10 am; 10.45 am; 11.30 am; 12.15 pm; 2.15 pm; 3 pm);
• walk through the Imperial Fora in search of traces of ancient crafts (10.30 am, with LIS interpretation);
• walk in Villa Borghese (11 am) in the most significant places of the park, such as the square of the Borghese Gallery, the secret gardens, the Deer Park, the Valley of the Platans, the area of Piazza di Siena and that will end at the Casino dell'Orologio open for the occasion (with LIS interpretation).

In the afternoon, you can also visit the collection of the Museum of the Roman School at the Casino Nobile of Villa Torlonia (4 pm), the Gallery of Modern Art with its sculpture Cloister, and the current exhibition on video art (4 pm) and the Capitoline Museums with Cursus Honorum. The government of Rome before Caesar (at 5 pm) focused on the public offices of the magistrates of the Republican age, a fundamental aspect of political life in ancient Rome.

On Saturday 23 and Sunday 24, from 10 am to 6 pm at the Villa di Massenzio, the historical re-enactment Ab urbe Condita awaits you to learn about the gestures, habits, rituals, and ways of life of those who lived before us.
For guided tours, reservations are required at the contact center 060608, subject to availability.

In the area of Circus Maximus, the Gruppo Storico Romano remembers, as per tradition, the birthday of the Urbe proposing, from 9 am on 21 April to 9 pm on 24 April, a rich program with representations of ancient rites and festivals and shows of historical re-enactment. During the four days, inside the area set up as imperial and republican Castrum, there will be meetings with authors, music, photographic exhibitions, and educational workshops for children.
Thursday, 21 April: at 15, the Track of the furrow, the re-enactment of the founding of Rome; at 16.30, representation of the ancient Feast of Palilie; at 18.15, the rite of the Renewal of the Sacred Fire; at 19.30, Benedictio Urbi.
On Saturday 23 April, from 3 pm to 4.30 pm, there will be a historical re-enactment of a game of Harpastum, the ancient Roman game with the ball.
Sunday 24 April, an appointment with the historical procession composed of about 1,000 reenactors in costume. Departure at about 11 am from the Circus Maximus. After walking along via dei Cerchi, via di San Gregorio, via Celio Vibenna, Colosseum, via dei Fori Imperiali, via San Pietro in Carcere, via del Campidoglio, via Teatro di Marcello, via Luigi Petroselli, via dei Cerchi, the procession ends at about 1.30 pmat the Circus Maximus. In the afternoon, the performances of the participating historical groups end with the reconstruction of the Battle of Bedriaco.

Come and discover and learn about the oldest theater in Rome, the Teatro Valle Franca Valeri, inaugurated in 1727 with the guided tour scheduled at 19 (available at the same time until Sunday, 24 April), entitled Journey to the center of the theater. You can discover the secrets of actors, directors, and technicians and the habits of the audience (reservations are required online at www.teatrodiroma.net).

The festivity of 21 April begins at 8.30 am with the laying of a laurel wreath by the Mayor at the Sacello del Milite Ignoto, at the Altare della Patria. The ceremony takes place in the presence of the Commander of the Military Command of the Capital and the Commander of the Local Police of Rome, with the Banner of Rome Capital escorted by the Drappello d'Onore, the Flag of the Institute, and the Band.

Information and updates on www.comune.roma.it and www.culture.roma.it - #NatalediRoma2022

Full program