March 2025 in Rome: discover and experience Rome from 1 to 31 March 2025

Every month Rome dresses up in new colors, offering a wide range of different visiting opportunities: a rich cultural and entertainment program in a city with a millenary history that amazes for its majesty, but that also hides corners of beauty and treasures that are less known to the public. Discover with us the main events organized in Rome in March and follow the suggestions thought up by our editorial staff to experience and admire the city, even along less beaten paths.  

• Roma Live events in March

• New entries and special events in March

• Rome free/low cost in March

• Jubilee 2025: the events in March

• Rome with kids in March

• Do you know that…?

• The days of Rome: key dates in the city’s history and traditions in March

• The many facets of Rome: places of the ancient Rome, papal Rome and modern Rome to (re)discover in March

• Itineraries and curiosities: our tips for March 

Roma Live events

Roma Live is the calendar for experiencing Rome at 360°, a multimedia container dedicated to unmissable events for those living in the city and for tourists. Check here all the events for the month of March sponsored by Roma Capitale and/or of international importance, and choose from the exhibitions, sporting events, concerts, theater shows, festivals, ballets and dance performances scheduled until 31 March. Please note: information available in this section is being updated constantly.

New entries and special events

• Run Rome The Marathon - 42.195 kilometers through the streets of the city, amidst unique sites and monuments such as the Colosseum and the Imperial Forum, Via della Conciliazione and St. Peter’s, Piazza del Popolo, Piazza di Spagna and Piazza Navona, the steps of Santa Maria in Aracoeli and the Cordonata leading to the Capitol designed by Michelangelo. Awarded as the best Italian sports event at the Bea Awards 2024, the Rome Marathon celebrates its 30th birthday: on 16 March, 30,000 people from 110 nations are expected on the start line, in addition to the several thousand registered for the simultaneous Run4Rome solidarity relay. On the eve of the marathon, Saturday 15 March, the program includes the 5-kilometer cross-city race Fun Run, to be tackled by running or walking together with relatives and friends, human or four-legged.

• Caravaggio 2025 - Light is the protagonist of innovative, powerful and dazzling compositions: artfully combined with color and a daring use of chiaroscuro it enhances and conceals, captures details, gives substance to characters and spirituality to matter, adds emotional depth and drama. From 7 March, Palazzo Barberini will host one of the largest retrospectives ever dedicated to Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, with an exceptional nucleus of works from prestigious international collections. Each one of the masterpieces on display, such as the Ecce Homo that returns to Italy after centuries at the Prado Museum, will contribute to highlighting the painter’s revolutionary style at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries and his profound and lasting influence on the artistic, religious and social scene of the time.

• Cirque du Soleil. Alegria in a New Light - Acrobats, contortionists, jugglers, clowns and trapeze artists. Circus art combines with theatre, music and dance to give life to a colourful and unconventional world of magic and creativity. Born in 1984 and become over the years a global phenomenon with 400 million spectators around the world, from 1 March (and until 13 April) the Cirque du Soleil brings one of its masterpieces to Rome. Presented for the first time in 1994, the show has been renewed in its musical arrangements, costumes and choreography to be in step with the times, maintaining in its new version Alegria in a New Light its original spirit to continue to be an inspiration for today's audiences.

Rome free/low cost

An astonishing “open-air museum” is a perhaps overused expression but one that inevitably comes to mind when walking around Rome. Austere or sumptuously decorated churches and aristocratic palaces, courtyards and cloisters, elegant squares and secret piazzas, monumental fountains or curious-looking fountains, marbles and stones with a history stretching back thousands of years – even if you have a limited budget, the city does not skimp on its wonders. As for the sites and monuments that charge a fee, on 2 March, like every first Sunday of the month, both the national cultural sites and the museums run by Roma Capitale open their doors to the public free of charge. Please note: in some cases, reservations are required, so always check in advance the websites of the museums. Reserved for women is free entry to national museums, archaeological sites and cultural venues on the occasion of International Women’s Day, 8 March. On 30 March, as on every last Sunday of the month, you can visit the Vatican Museums at no cost from 9 am to 2 pm (last admission 12.30 pm). On all other days, with the exception of Monday, you can explore 8 small museums with free admission – small but with valuable collections ranging from prehistory to ancient sculpture, from the Risorgimento to Napoleonic relics and modern and contemporary art.

As always, the city cultural and entertainment program for the month of March offers events and activities at no cost. Examples include the exhibitions Italia al lavoro - Italy at Work in the Sala Fontana of Palazzo Esposizioni, Felice Levini. Progettare il caos, Giuseppe Salvatori. Centuria and Exprimo at the Mattatoio di Roma and Viaggio nella Pop Art. Un nuovo modo di amare le cose at La Vaccheria; the 2nd Biennial of the Anthropocene at Palazzo Besso; admission to the Veio Archaeological Park (on 9 and 23 March), visits to the garden of the Japanese Cultural Institute and guided tours of the Barbo Apartment restoration site promoted by VIVE-Vittoriano e Palazzo Venezia (Saturday 15 March, Sala delle Fatiche di Ercole or Sala dei Paramenti); the film festival Jean-Pierre Melville. The Last Samurai at Palazzo Esposizioni; Saint Patrick’s Weekend at the Città dell'Altra Economia (14-17 March) and the Japan Days market at the Ippodromo Capannelle (15-16 March). You can also find other suggestions on the cultureroma website.

Jubilee 2025: the events

In March the Jubilee will continue with two events dedicated to specific categories: the Jubilee of the World of Volunteering (8-9 March) and the Jubilee of Priests Instituted as Missionaries of Mercy (28-30 March), closed by the performance of Ennio Morricone’s “Missa Papae Francisci” in the church of Sant’Ignazio. On Saturday 15 March, at 6 pm, the special Marathoner's Mass will be dedicated to the participants of the 30th edition of Run Rome The Marathon, while on 23 March, as part of the European Day of Artisanal Ice Cream, the flavor of the year dedicated to the Jubilee, Hallelujah, will be presented in Piazza Pio XII. On the eve of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, between 28 and 29 March, the Jubilee churches will welcome the 12th edition of the “24 Hours for the Lord”, the Lenten initiative of prayer and reconciliation istituted by Pope Francis. Until 15 May, the window gallery Conciliazione 5, in Via della Conciliazione, hosts Beyond the Wall - Regina Coeli, with the 27 portraits created by the artist Yan Pei-Ming to give a face to those who live and work in the Roman prison; until 20 June, the headquarters of the Dicastery for Culture and Education in Piazza Pio XII, host the exhibition Global Visual Poetry (visits by appointment), with over 200 works by international artists linked to the current of visual poetry. A reinterpretation in a cultured and secular key of the Jubilee motto “Pilgrims of Hope” is offered by the exhibition En route at the Vatican Library. For more information and assistance in registering for the pilgrimage to the Holy Doors and the major Jubilee events, please contact the Info Point for the Jubilee 2025 in Via della Conciliazione 7. For tourist reception, two new temporary Tourist Infopoints, active until 31 December 2025, are also available for tourists, cultural operators and pilgrims: the Tourist Infopoint Auditorium Conciliazione (information and sales) and the Tourist Infopoint San Paolo (information only).

Rome with kids

Museums to explore, villas and gardens in which to run wild, educational workshops and readings to stimulate the imagination and creativity, theme parks, theatrical performances and much more... Rome is also a family-friendly city, a cheerful and colorful stage for every child. Discover all the events dedicated to children scheduled for the month of March and unleash your imagination among surprising adventures, journeys through history, interactive itineraries and guided tours. Our Kids page is updated weekly: visit us again for new ideas!

Do you know that…?

The residence of the magistrates elected by the people to administer the city since the 13th century, then redesigned by Michelangelo and finished by Giacomo Della Porta in 1568, Palazzo dei Conservatori makes up, together with Palazzo Nuovo and the Tabularium Gallery, the seat of the Capitoline Museums, the oldest public museum in the world. The tour includes symbolic sculptures of the city, such as the Capitoline She-wolf and the Marcus Aurelius (now in the exedra designed in 2005 by architect Aymonino), but also the marvellous cycles of frescoes that adorn the Conservators' Apartment, the oldest part of the building, painted between the 16th and 17th centuries. The Cavalier d'Arpino, a leading exponent of Roman Mannerism, among others, was called upon to translate into painting the legends and salient episodes of ancient Roman history and to illustrate examples of courage and virtue. He was entrusted with the decoration of the Great Hall, renamed the Hall of the Horatii and Curiatii after the subject of one of the frescoes. It was in this very hall that the so-called Treaties of Rome were signed on 25 March 1957. Under the eyes of Romulus and Remus, Numa Pompilius, the Sabine women kidnapped by the Romans and Tullius Hostilius, amidst horses being thrown to the ground and riders being thrown off their horses, the representatives of Italy, France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg signed the Treaties for the establishment of the Economic Community (EEC) and the Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM), one of the milestones in the long and arduous process of European unification.

The days of Rome: key dates in the city’s history and traditions

Rites, festivals, anniversaries and celebrations have always marked the life of the city, its inhabitants and its visitors: a dense calendar of fixed happenings dating back to past eras, but also to the present day, that define Rome’s identity. Discover with us some of the city’s old and new special dates and moments, with the most heartfelt or awaited occasions – or even simply the most curious ones for the month of March.

The many facets of Rome: places of the ancient Rome, papal Rome and modern Rome to (re)discover

The pagan Rome that was the center of one of the largest empires that ever existed; the symbol city of the Catholic religion shaped by the successors on the throne of Peter; the new capital of the Kingdom of Italy and then of the Republic. The history of an eternal city is inevitably made up of multiple narratives that intertwine with one another. Each month, we will introduce you to three places that show the different imagines of Rome through the centuries. As reference time thresholds, we will take the 6th century (that is, when the bishops of Rome began to be not only the supreme voice of the Christian Church but also the highest guide of their city) for the Rome of the popes, and 1870 (the year of the Porta Pia breach) for modern Rome.

• The Villa of Livia at Prima Porta - A round face dominated by large, intense eyes, a small, hard-set mouth and an aquiline nose: ancient coins, gems and statues thus portray Livia Drusilla, a symbolic figure of the first Roman imperial house and a role model for all the women of her time, who imitated her style and hairstyle. At Emperor Augustus’ side for over 50 years, Livia had a public visibility and influence never before achieved by a Roman matron, even after the death of her husband. Ancient sources tell of her extra-urban villa along the ancient Via Flaminia: two of her treasures unearthed in the 19th century are now preserved elsewhere, the Augustus of Prima Porta in the Vatican Museums and the frescoed garden populated by birds in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme. Immersed in nature, the preserved structures of the villa (the private rooms of Livia and Augustus, the atrium with a small inner garden and the reception area) can however be visited free of charge on the first, third and possibly fifth week of each month, from Thursday to Sunday.

• Palazzo Santacroce Aldobrandini - An imposing “palace-strongbox” that has retained its original function to this day, at least in its left side. Crowned on its main façade by an elegant clock and bell, and adorned by an aedicule by Maderno and a curious fountain, the cream-colored palace that occupies a large block in the Rione Regola is since 1603 the seat of the Monte di Pietà (later Monte dei Pegni), the Mount of Piety institutional pawnbroker. The institution had been founded in Rome in the first half of the 16th century by the Franciscan Giovanni da Calvi, with the approval of Paul III Farnese, to combat usury and in favor of the poor, who bartered clothes, jewellery and crockery for cash. Sarcastically renamed “Monte d’Empietà”, Mount of Impiety, by the Romans, who were not satisfied with the valuations or the interest charged, the palace soon became a fundamental economic component of papal Rome, to the point of needing continual enlargements, until the mid 18th century. The marvelous chapel with polychrome marble and gilded stucco was also completed in the first half of the 18th century: as the palace interior, it can be visited on special occasions.

• Palazzetto dello Sport - Palatiziano - Aesthetics and functionality, with an extraordinary self-supporting dome composed of more than 1,500 prefabricated elements that form a sort of “shell” 60 meters in diameter, making it resemble a modern Pantheon. Built in little more than a year and inaugurated in 1957, in view of the 1960 Olympics, the Palazzetto dello Sport is a perfect example of the innovative use of reinforced concrete, creating elegant and dynamic forms. The structural design of the facility bears the signature of architect Annibale Vitellozzi and Pier Luigi Nervi, one of the most extraordinary minds in 20th century civil engineering, author of, among others, the Palazzo dello Sport and the historic Flaminio Stadium. Having undergone a long and careful restoration and renovation, the Palazzetto reopened its doors in 2023 and is now a multi-purpose facility suitable for hosting events and shows, as well as sports competitions; in particular, the home matches of Smi Roma Volleyball, Virtus GVM Roma 1960 and Luiss Basket.

Itineraries and curiosities: our tips

• The Arco della Ciambella (“Arch of the Donut”) - In Rome, every stone hides a story, sometimes rooted in the city’s most ancient past. In a small street of the Rione Pigna, between the Pantheon and the Sacred area of largo Argentina, a high semicircular wall embraces a group of houses: it is what remains of the large circular hall built by Agrippa, friend and son-in-law of Augustus, for his baths. Find out more on the dedicated page.

• Seven sayings to discover Rome and the Roman dialect - From the “giro di Peppe”, Peppe’s tour, to “So’ finite le messe a San Gregorio”, masses at San Gregorio are over. Liveliness and frankness, combined with irreverent irony, are the characteristics that most come to mind when one thinks of the Roman dialect – a plastic and expressive language that has given life over the centuries to proverbs and idioms, also inspired by places, monuments and events linked to the history of Rome. Find out more on the dedicated page.

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