Galleria Borghese
A cardinal's country villa where Bernini made marble twist, flee, and turn to bark.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Rome offline.
The densest concentration of Bernini's early sculpture anywhere, plus six Caravaggios in one room — Scipione Borghese's collection still hangs in the villa built for it, sculptures below, paintings above.
What to look for
- The gladiator mosaic (320-330 AD) set into the ground floor among the antiquities
- The Salone ceiling: a trompe-l'oeil fresco of Camillus breaking the Gauls' siege of the Capitoline
- All six Caravaggios grouped in Hall VIII (Silenus's Hall), including David and the Head of Goliath
Timed two-hour entry slots — reserve ahead; walk-in space is limited.
Galleria Borghese is one of 40 sights worth the detour in Rome, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Rome pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Rome
- Vatican CityThe world's smallest sovereign state fits in 44 hectares — you cross its border by stepping over a white line.
- ColosseumAround 50,000 Romans packed this stone oval to watch spectacles staged over a two-level warren of cages beneath the arena floor.
- St. Peter's BasilicaThe world's largest church, built directly over the grave believed to hold St. Peter's bones.
- Sistine ChapelMichelangelo painted the ceiling standing up, not on his back — and cardinals still elect the pope in this room.
- PantheonA 1,900-year-old concrete dome with a hole punched in the top — when it rains in Rome, it rains inside too.
- Stadio OlimpicoOne 70,634-seat bowl, two cross-town tenants: AS Roma and SS Lazio both play here.