National Museum of Musical Instruments, Musical instrument museum near San Giovanni in Laterano, Italy
The National Museum of Musical Instruments is a specialised museum in Rome, housed in a former military building near San Giovanni in Laterano. It displays over three thousand instruments ranging from the late Hellenistic period to the 20th century, drawn from many parts of the world.
The museum was founded on a private collection acquired by the Italian state in 1949 and officially opened to the public in 1964. The building had previously served a military function before it was converted to house the collection.
The collection brings together instruments from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, showing how musical traditions crossed borders long before the modern era. Some of the keyboard instruments on display are decorated with painted scenes and inlaid wood, making them as much objects of craft as of music.
The museum sits in a calm part of Rome and is easy to reach on foot from the San Giovanni in Laterano area. It is worth checking opening days in advance, as they can vary depending on the time of year.
The museum holds one of the few surviving pianos made by Bartolomeo Cristofori, dated 1722, who is credited with inventing the piano as we know it. Cristofori was the first to build an instrument where the volume could be controlled by the force of the player's touch on the keys.
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