Centrale Montemartini, Industry museum in Ostiense district, Rome, Italy
Centrale Montemartini is an archaeological museum in the Ostiense district of Rome, Italy, that displays Roman sculptures in a former electricity plant. The rooms contain turbines, steam boilers and diesel engines, among which marble figures, mosaics and architectural fragments from the Republican and Imperial periods are arranged.
The power plant was inaugurated in 1912 and supplied Rome with electricity until the mid-twentieth century. The conversion into an exhibition space took place during the restoration of the Capitoline Museums, to house ancient finds from the civic collections.
Statues stand among large machines from the age of industrialization, so that ancient divine figures and early twentieth-century technology appear side by side. Visitors see Roman portrait heads, reliefs and inscriptions in a room originally built for electricity generation.
The building is easily reached by public transport and has wheelchair-accessible entrances. A museum shop and a small café are located in the entrance area.
The lighting uses both daylight from tall windows and carefully placed spotlights that heighten the contrast between white marble and dark metal. Some machines still bear manufacturer plates and operating instructions in Italian from the early years of the power plant.
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