The Museo delle Mura, inside the Porta Appia, better known as the Porta S. Sebastiano, houses one of the largest and best preserved sections of the Mura Aureliane (3rd c. AD). The museum exhibition, inaugurated in 1990, guides the visitor along an itinerary exploring the history of the city walls: the Servian (6th-4th c. BC) and the Aurelian, various brickwork techniques, construction systems, architectonic transformations and restorations.
The exhibit provides didactic panels with texts in Italian and English, complete graphic and photographic documents, models which reproduce the building stages of the Mura Aureliane, and plaster casts of the decorations (many of which can still be found on the wall screens and at various points along the itinerary).
A visit to the museum takes you through a covered walkway along the passage of a wall track. It winds towards the Bastione Ardeatino and is interspersed by towers. A terrace on top of one of the towers will be opened to the public when restoring is over. From the door, you will be able to admire a panorama, including interesting views of the four great basilicas of Rome (S. Pietro, S. Paolo, S. Giovanni, S. Maria Maggiore), EUR, the Appia Antica park with the tomb of Cecilia Metella, Tor Fiscale, and, in the distance, the Castelli romani.
The museum also houses a room where you can view archeological films, conferences and where cultural meetings are held. Guided visits to the Mura Aureliane start from here.
Porta S. Sebastiano, which opens onto the Via Appia (an important Roman street),owes its appearance to various architectonic changes occurring through the centuries. Originally, there were twin arches having towers at their sides. These towers were semicircular and had a kind of attic or terrace. At the beginning of the fifth century AD, higher, circular towers were constructed around the old ones, and the lower part of the towers was surrounded by square ramparts and partly adorned with marble. Finally, certain internal changes were made and the attic ceiling was raised above the entrance, giving the portal its present monumental appearance.
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 | | | I Municipio
Rione XIX - Celio
Regio I - Porta Capena
via di Porta San Sebastiano
Tel. 06/70475284
HOURS:
From Tuesday to Saturday:
9a.m. to 7p.m.
On Sunday and Holidays:
9a.m. to 7p.m.
On the 1st of April and the 31th of December:
9a.m. to 5p.m.
Closed on Mondays
JULY/AUGUST:
9.a.m. to 1p.m. |  |
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